SARS CoV-2 Envelope Section

3D Model

The components that make up the virus particle that transmits SARS Coronavirus 2, the cause of COVID-19. On the outside of the virus particle, trimers of the spike protein (S) protrude from a membrane which is penetrated by the envelope protein (E) and many copies of the membrane protein (M). On the inside of the virus particle, M makes contact with copies of the viral nucleoprotein, which form a long, tangled coil around the RNA of the viral genome. The biological details of this structure are described at the UKRI site Coronavirus: the science explained.

This model is constructed to accurately represent the size and quantities of all virion elements, based on current scientific literature.

Created by Annabel Slater, working with the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research.