De Novo Selected hACE2 Mimics That Integrate Hotspot Peptides with Aptameric Scaffolds for Binding Tolerance of SARS-CoV-2 Variants

The hotspot interaction of viruses with receptor-derived short peptides is maximized by aptamer-like scaffolds, the compact and stable architectures of which could be in vitro selected from a myriad of the hotspot peptide-coupled random nucleic acids.