1. The spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2: A review of how mutations of spike glycoproteins have driven the emergence of variants with high transmissibility and immune escape
- Author
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Pedro F N, Souza, Felipe P, Mesquita, Jackson L, Amaral, Patrícia G C, Landim, Karollyny R P, Lima, Marília B, Costa, Izabelle R, Farias, Mônica O, Belém, Yago O, Pinto, Heline H T, Moreira, Ilana C L, Magalhaes, Débora S C M, Castelo-Branco, Raquel C, Montenegro, and Claudia R, de Andrade
- Subjects
SARS-CoV-2 ,Structural Biology ,Mutation ,Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus ,COVID-19 ,Humans ,General Medicine ,Molecular Biology ,Biochemistry ,Glycoproteins - Abstract
Late in 2019, SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2) emerged, causing an unknown type of pneumonia today called coronaviruses disease 2019 (COVID-19). COVID-19 is still an ongoing global outbreak that has claimed and threatened many lives worldwide. Along with the fastest vaccine developed in history to fight SARS-CoV-2 came a critical problem, SARS-CoV-2. These new variants are a result of the accumulation of mutations in the sequence and structure of spike (S) glycoprotein, which is by far the most critical protein for SARS-CoV-2 to recognize cells and escape the immune system, in addition to playing a role in SARS-CoV-2 infection, pathogenicity, transmission, and evolution. In this review, we discuss mutation of S protein and how these mutations have led to new variants that are usually more transmissible and can thus mitigate the immunity produced by vaccination. Here, analysis of S protein sequences and structures from variants point out the mutations among them, how they emerge, and the behavior of S protein from each variant. This review brings details in an understandable way about how the variants of SARS-CoV-2 are a result of mutations in S protein, making them more transmissible and even more aggressive than their relatives.
- Published
- 2022