A deeper dive into the spike protein and its many conformations. We try to explain in more detail how dynamic the spike protein is, how it interacts with your cells, and how the vaccine-induced spike is different than the spike on the surface of the virus.
There are 2 major points that drive my thought process evaluating the spike protein:
1. The amount of spike protein delivered by the vaccine is so much less than the amount you will be exposed to via natural infection. The virus can replicate to create more, but the vaccine can’t.
2. The majority of the vaccines engineered the spike protein to have an energetic preference for the conformation that will not allow the virus and cell to fuse. This also means the ACE2 receptor will not be internalized into the cell (currently ACE2 internalization is associated with disease severity).
I worked with @sciencewhizliz, @niniandthebrain, and @virus.vs.labcoat to put together this thorough post. Many thanks to them!
I used the 3D Protein Imager (@proteinimaging) to create these models. I would highly recommend checking this free online tool!
PDB files used:
Pre-fusion closed – 7df3
Pre-fusion open – 7dk3
Post-fusion – 6m3w
Bound to ACE2 – 7df4
Posted on Instagram on June 26, 2021.