New discovery concerning receptors used by coronaviruses to enter human cells

The SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for COVID-19 can cause severe acute respiratory syndrome, contrasting with other coronaviruses that were known to cause mild seasonal colds prior to its emergence in 2019. This raises the question of why one coronavirus affects humans more severely than another. Scientists at the Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité and the VRI have now provided part of the answer by identifying a gateway used by the seasonal coronavirus HKU1 to enter human cells.