O-glycosylation pattern of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein reveals an “O-Follow-N” rule

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), emerged in late 2019 and has since caused a pandemic. Although there have been extensive studies worldwide, our understanding of this newly emerged pathogen is far from sufficient. The pathogenesis of the SARS-CoV-2 infection is not fully understood, although a “two-stage” hypothesis was proposed in our previous study. 1