Check out @tylernstarr's summary of our new pre-print showing that ACE2 binding is an ancestral and evolvable trait of sarbecoviruses (SARS-related coronaviruses):
https://twitter.com/tylernstarr/status/1417500552091553793(1/n)
Specifically, @tylernstarr used high-throughput binding assays to measure how well receptor-binding domains from nearly all known sarbecoviruses can bind ACE2 from various relevant species:
https://twitter.com/tylernstarr/status/1417500558777278482(2/n)
He also showed that ACE2 binding is present in the inferred ancestors of known sarbecoviruses:
https://twitter.com/tylernstarr/status/1417500566826147853(3/n)
Working with @veeslerlab @SamK_Zepeda, he also showed that new ACE2 binding affinities can easily evolve in receptor binding domains of sarbecoviruses, even ones from outside Asia:
https://twitter.com/tylernstarr/status/1417500578079510533(4/n)
Overall, this work tells us a lot about ACE2 binding among natural sarbecoviruses--and demonstrates a powerful approach to study this topic by using high-throughput biochemical & pseudotype approaches that don't require ever generating any replication-competent virus. (5/n)
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