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In SARS-CoV-2, the spike protein, which has been imaged at the atomic level using cryogenic electron microscopy, [148] [149] is the protein responsible for allowing the virus to attach to and fuse with the membrane of a host cell; [147] specifically, its S1 subunit catalyzes attachment, the S2 subunit fusion.
The spike protein assembles into trimers that form large structures, called spikes or peplomers, [3] that project from the surface of the virion. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] The distinctive appearance of these spikes when visualized using negative stain transmission electron microscopy , "recalling the solar corona ", [ 6 ] gives the virus family its main name.