The furin-cleavage mystery of SARS-CoV-2 solved: we discovered an alternative receptor!

Neuropilin-1 facilitates SARS-CoV-2 cell entry and provides a possible pathway into the central nervous system

The cellular receptor neuropilin-1 (NRP1), known to bind furin-cleaved substrates, significantly potentiates SARS-CoV-2 infectivity, which was inhibited by a monoclonal blocking antibody against the extracellular b1b2 domain of NRP1.

Read more: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.07.137802v1