tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Gene
. 2022 Jan 3;146134.
doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2021.146134. Online ahead of print.
From Delta to Omicron: S1-RBD/S2 mutation/deletion equilibrium in SARS-CoV-2 defined variants
Vasileios Papanikolaou[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Aris Chrysovergis[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Vasileios Ragos[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Evangelos Tsiambas[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Spyros Katsinis[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Arezina Manoli[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Sotirios Papouliakos[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Dimitrios Roukas[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Stylianos Mastronikolis[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Dimitrios Peschos[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Anna Batistatou[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Efthimios Kyrodimos[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Nicholas Mastronikolis[SUP] 10 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Coronavirus-related Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV) in 2002/2003, Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) in 2012/2013, and especially the current 2019/2021 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-2 (SARS-CoV-2) affected negatively the national health systems' endurance worldwide. SARS-Cov-2 virus belongs to lineage b of beta-CoVs demonstrating a strong phylogenetic similarity with BatCoVRaTG13 type. Spike (S) glycoprotein projections -consisting of two subunits S1/S2- provide a unique crown-like formation (corona) on virion's surface. Concerning their functional role, S1 represents the main receptor-binding domain (RBD), whereas S2 is involved in the virus-cell membrane fusion mechanism. On Nov 26[SUP]th[/SUP] 2021, WHO designated the new SARS-CoV-2 strain - named Omicron, from letter ''όμικρον'' in the Greek alphabet - as a variant of concern (B.1.1529 variant). Potentially this new variant is associated with high transmissibility leading to elevated infectivity and probably increased re-infection rates. Its impact on morbidity/mortality remains under investigation. In the current paper, analyzing and comparing the alterations of SARS-CoV-2 S RNA sequences in the defined variants (Alpha to Omicron), we observed some interesting findings regarding the S1-RBD/S2 mutation/deletion equilibrium that maybe affect and modify its activity.
Keywords: COVID-19; RNA; SARS-CoV-2; genome; mutations; variants.
. 2022 Jan 3;146134.
doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2021.146134. Online ahead of print.
From Delta to Omicron: S1-RBD/S2 mutation/deletion equilibrium in SARS-CoV-2 defined variants
Vasileios Papanikolaou[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Aris Chrysovergis[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Vasileios Ragos[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Evangelos Tsiambas[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Spyros Katsinis[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Arezina Manoli[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Sotirios Papouliakos[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Dimitrios Roukas[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Stylianos Mastronikolis[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Dimitrios Peschos[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Anna Batistatou[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Efthimios Kyrodimos[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Nicholas Mastronikolis[SUP] 10 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 34990799
- DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2021.146134
Abstract
Coronavirus-related Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV) in 2002/2003, Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) in 2012/2013, and especially the current 2019/2021 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-2 (SARS-CoV-2) affected negatively the national health systems' endurance worldwide. SARS-Cov-2 virus belongs to lineage b of beta-CoVs demonstrating a strong phylogenetic similarity with BatCoVRaTG13 type. Spike (S) glycoprotein projections -consisting of two subunits S1/S2- provide a unique crown-like formation (corona) on virion's surface. Concerning their functional role, S1 represents the main receptor-binding domain (RBD), whereas S2 is involved in the virus-cell membrane fusion mechanism. On Nov 26[SUP]th[/SUP] 2021, WHO designated the new SARS-CoV-2 strain - named Omicron, from letter ''όμικρον'' in the Greek alphabet - as a variant of concern (B.1.1529 variant). Potentially this new variant is associated with high transmissibility leading to elevated infectivity and probably increased re-infection rates. Its impact on morbidity/mortality remains under investigation. In the current paper, analyzing and comparing the alterations of SARS-CoV-2 S RNA sequences in the defined variants (Alpha to Omicron), we observed some interesting findings regarding the S1-RBD/S2 mutation/deletion equilibrium that maybe affect and modify its activity.
Keywords: COVID-19; RNA; SARS-CoV-2; genome; mutations; variants.