USING BIOINFORMATICS TO INVESTIGATE THE NOVEL SARS- COV-2 VARIANTS AND THEIR IMPACTS ON INFECTIVITY
Abstract
The coronavirus pandemic swept across the world in 2020 and changed the pace, texture and nature of our lives. The causative agent belongs to the RNA Coro-navirus, also called SARS-CoV-2. Viruses constantly change through mutations and variations, due to evolution and adaptation processes, have been observed worldwide. Most emerging mutations have insignificant impact on the virus spreading, combinations of mutations or some mutations could provide a selective advantage, like increased transmissibility, infectivity or the capability to avoid the host immune response. An emergent Aspartic acid identified in 614 is substituted by Glycine (Asp 614 →Gly) (D614G) in the spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 strains which is the prevalent form globally. The study provides a computational analysis to compare the wild type of SARS-Cov-2 with a new variant (D614G) and find out the difference between them in terms of mutations and immunological features and their receptor binding domains which is a key part of the virus that is located on its' spike protein that facilitates its entrance into host cells and lead to infection. The study found that the D614 G variant exhibit alteration in the RBD that affect its pathogenicity, infectivity and reduced antibody binding and immune protection and is likely to be advantageous for immune evasion. It is the primary target in the prevention and treatment of infections.
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