Concern for Structural Changes in Covid19 variants

Sribas Chowdhury, Adamas University Kolkata

We all know how the horrific Covid19 pandemic has shaken the entire world. With the SARS-corona virus, 2 is the main culprit, it has claimed millions of lives worldwide and has disrupted the socio-economic balance of all countries. The virus has been a cause of concern due to its variants rising very frequently in spite of it having a low mutation rate. These variants spread at a much faster rate and are speculated to be more potent than the ones that originated in Wuhan. This made the process of vaccine making and vaccination drive particularly challenging in countries across the world.

However, recent studies show that situations may or may not take a turn for the worse. Scientists at Boston Children’s Hospital examined the Alpha and Beta variant of the SARS Cov-2 virus. The study, led by a team under Dr Bing Chen, was carried on using the cryo-EM technique to observe the spike protein of the virus.

It all starts with the ‘Spike Protein’

Spike proteins are very crucial towards spreading and infection of the virus. These proteins are present on the surface of the virus and help the cell wall of the virus to fuse with the cell wall of the target cell. Then, the viral DNA enters the cell and infects it. Most available vaccines are directed towards releasing antibodies that can neutralize these spike proteins. The study was conducted to observe the difference in structural changes of the spike protein in Alpha and Beta variants from the original virus.

The Beta version (also known as B.1.351) showed mutations in which the shape of the spike proteins got changed in some areas. As a result, the efficiency of neutralizing antibodies stimulated by the vaccine showed a decrement. This raised concerns as it indicated that the variant may dodge the immune system, even in vaccinated people. However, it was also found out that this variant was less transmissible, due to the mutation decreasing the ability of spike protein to bind to ACE2 receptors.

The Alpha version showed mutations that made it more infectious. A mutation in the form of a single amino acid substitution in its spike protein made it more susceptible to binding with ACE2 receptors. This could have led to the alpha version being more transmissible across the general population. Fortunately, test results indicated that the existing vaccines can be effective against these as the antibodies induced by them are still efficient against this variant.

What to make of the spike protein mutations?

The scientists are confident that the changes in these two variants aren’t much of a threat as both the variants didn’t meet the criteria to qualify as a heightened threat. But, they have also indicated that the most troublesome combination hasn’t been found yet and so further investigation is necessary. The team plans to study the other variants like the concerning Delta variant (names B.1.617.2) and publish the results of their investigation in near future. Further investigations can reveal more about the working mechanism of the virus and can lead to better understanding and ideation of methods and solutions to curb the spreading of the life-threatening disease and eradicate it entirely.

Also read: IgA-virus Immune Complex: Neutrophil’s trap for SARS-CoV-2

Reference:

1. Cai, Y., Zhang, J., Xiao, T., Lavine, C. L., Rawson, S., Peng, H., Zhu, H., Anand, K., Tong, P., Gautam, A., Lu, S., Sterling, S. M., Walsh, R. M., Rits-Volloch, S., Lu, J., Wesemann, D. R., Yang, W., Seaman, M. S., & Chen, B. (2021). Structural basis for enhanced infectivity and immune evasion of SARS-CoV-2 variants. Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abi9745

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