The molecular mechanism of syncytium formation during SARS-CoV-2 infection is not fully understood. Zhang et al. now show that cell surface heparan sulfate enhances spike-induced ACE2 clustering and cell-cell fusion, which depends on a conserved ACE2 linker and is blocked by a heparan sulfate binding drug.
- Qi Zhang
- Weichun Tang
- Yihong Ye
