Glycand can effect stronger binding to ACE2 which we discussed at length. In a recent Medical and Life Sciences News they note:
The study results provide evidence that the binding between SARS-CoV-2 RBD and host ACE2 receptor is aided by the glycosylation on each protein. The findings demonstrate that these interactions between RBD and ACE2 were strengthened and longer-ranged when mediated by multiple complex glycans. The protein-protein interactions were extended due to the increased stability provided by the glycans and their catch-slip behavior affected the binding strength of these interactions. These results were validated by experimental evidence that showed a decrease in the binding energy of deglycosylated proteins. Understanding the implications of these results could be helpful as more SARS-CoV-2 variants emerge with different glycosylation patterns in their S proteins. However, further research is needed to analyze the larger fragments of S protein to address the effects of these mutations.
We noted when we saw the spike protein changes that it allows a multiplicity of glycan binding sites and thus stronger binding.
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