TY - JOUR
T1 - Implications derived from S-protein variants of SARS-CoV-2 from six continents
AU - Hassan, Sk. Sarif
AU - Lundstrom, Kenneth
AU - Barh, Debmalya
AU - Silva, Raner Jośe Santana
AU - Andrade, Bruno Silva
AU - Azevedo, Vasco
AU - Choudhury, Pabitra Pal
AU - Palu, Giorgio
AU - Uhal, Bruce D.
AU - Kandimalla, Ramesh
AU - Seyran, Murat
AU - Lal, Amos
AU - Sherchan, Samendra P.
AU - Azad, Gajendra Kumar
AU - Aljabali, Alaa A.a.
AU - Brufsky, Adam M.
AU - Serrano-aroca, Ángel
AU - Adadi, Parise
AU - El-aziz, Tarek Mohamed Abd
AU - Redwan, Elrashdy M.
AU - Takayama, Kazuo
AU - Rezaei, Nima
AU - Tambuwala, Murtaza
AU - Uversky, Vladimir N.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018
PY - 2021/11/30
Y1 - 2021/11/30
N2 - The spike (S) protein is a critical determinant of the infectivity and antigenicity of SARS-CoV-2. Several mutations in the S protein of SARS-CoV-2 have already been detected, and their effect in immune system evasion and enhanced transmission as a cause of increased morbidity and mortality are being investigated. From pathogenic and epidemiological perspectives, S proteins are of prime interest to researchers. This study focused on the unique variants of S proteins from six continents: Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania, South America, and North America. In comparison to the other five continents, Africa had the highest percentage of unique S proteins (29.1%). The phylogenetic relationship implies that unique S proteins from North America are significantly different from those of the other five continents. They are most likely to spread to the other geographic locations through international travel or naturally by emerging mutations. It is suggested that restriction of international travel should be considered, and massive vaccination as an utmost measure to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also further suggested that the efficacy of existing vaccines and future vaccine development must be reviewed with careful scrutiny, and if needed, further re-engineered based on requirements dictated by new emerging S protein variants.
AB - The spike (S) protein is a critical determinant of the infectivity and antigenicity of SARS-CoV-2. Several mutations in the S protein of SARS-CoV-2 have already been detected, and their effect in immune system evasion and enhanced transmission as a cause of increased morbidity and mortality are being investigated. From pathogenic and epidemiological perspectives, S proteins are of prime interest to researchers. This study focused on the unique variants of S proteins from six continents: Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania, South America, and North America. In comparison to the other five continents, Africa had the highest percentage of unique S proteins (29.1%). The phylogenetic relationship implies that unique S proteins from North America are significantly different from those of the other five continents. They are most likely to spread to the other geographic locations through international travel or naturally by emerging mutations. It is suggested that restriction of international travel should be considered, and massive vaccination as an utmost measure to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also further suggested that the efficacy of existing vaccines and future vaccine development must be reviewed with careful scrutiny, and if needed, further re-engineered based on requirements dictated by new emerging S protein variants.
KW - Continents
KW - Invariant residues
KW - Mutations
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - Spike protein
KW - Vaccines
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115991690&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.09.080
DO - 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.09.080
M3 - Article
C2 - 34571123
SN - 0141-8130
VL - 191
SP - 934
EP - 955
JO - International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
JF - International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
ER -