Nanoscopy reveals heparan sulfate clusters as docking sites for SARS-CoV-2 attachment and entry

Virus entry is thought to involve binding a unique receptor for cell attachment and cytosolic entry. For SARS-CoV-2 underlying the COVID-19 pandemic, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is widely considered the receptor for cell-surface attachment and subsequent cell entry. Using advanced light microscopy to resolve individual virions and receptors, we found instead that heparan sulfate (HS), not ACE2, mediates SARS-CoV-2 cell-surface attachment, and subsequent endocytosis. ACE2 functions only downstream of HS to enable viral genome expression. Instead of binding single HS molecules that electrostatically interact with viral surface proteins weakly, SARS-CoV-2 binds clusters of ~6–137 HS molecules projecting 60–410 nm above the plasma membrane. These tall, HS-rich clusters, present at about one per 6 μm², act as docking sites for viral attachment. Blocking HS binding with the clinically used HS-binding agent pixantrone strongly inhibited an authentic pathogen, the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron JN.1 subvariant, from attaching to and infecting human airway cells. This work establishes a revised entry paradigm in which HS clusters mediate SARS-CoV-2 attachment and endocytosis, with ACE2 acting downstream, thereby identifying HS interactions as a key anti-COVID-19 strategy. This paradigm and its therapeutic implications may apply broadly beyond COVID-19 because, analogous to SARS-CoV-2, HS binds many other viruses but is only considered an attachment regulator.