Coronavirus（CoV）is a positive-stranded RNA virus that can infect humans and animals. The maximum RNA genome length in the virus is 32 kb，which can be divided into four categories：α，β，γ，and δ. Coronavirus particles contain four standard structural proteins：E（envelope protein），M（membrane protein），N（nucleocapsid protein），and S（spike protein）. The S protein contains both a receptor-binding domain（RBD）and a fusion-related domain，making it a key protein in the process of CoV entry. This article mainly describes the main structure and domains of the S protein，as well as the autohydrolytic cleavage and conformational changes of the protein during the virus invading host cells. The relevant neutralizing antibodies of the protein and the current research status of inactivated vaccines and subunit vaccine as well as RNA vaccines of CoV，especially SARS-CoV-2，are introduced.