Mutations in SARS-CoV-2: Insights on structure, variants, vaccines, and biomedical interventions

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2022.113977Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • COVID-19 has triggered a global health crisis that has never been seen before.

  • The most prevalent mutations were in the S protein and proteins that make up the RdRP.

  • A wide and diverse range of variants, leading to multiple vaccines production.

  • Vaccination and global health precautions are critical in COVID-19 prevention.

Abstract

COVID-19 is a worldwide pandemic caused by SARS-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Less than a year after the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, many vaccines have arrived on the market with innovative technologies in the field of vaccinology. Based on the use of messenger RNA (mRNA) encoding the Spike SARS-Cov-2 protein or on the use of recombinant adenovirus vectors enabling the gene encoding the Spike protein to be introduced into our cells, these strategies make it possible to envisage the vaccination in a new light with tools that are more scalable than the vaccine strategies used so far. Faced with the appearance of new variants, which will gradually take precedence over the strain at the origin of the pandemic, these new strategies will allow a much faster update of vaccines to fight against these new variants, some of which may escape neutralization by vaccine antibodies. However, only a vaccination policy based on rapid and massive vaccination of the population but requiring a supply of sufficient doses could make it possible to combat the emergence of these variants. Indeed, the greater the number of infected individuals, the faster the virus multiplies, with an increased risk of the emergence of variants in these RNA viruses. This review will discuss SARS-CoV-2 pathophysiology and evolution approaches in altered transmission platforms and emphasize the different mutations and how they influence the virus characteristics. Also, this article summarizes the common vaccines and the implication of the mutations and genetic variety of SARS-CoV-2 on the COVID-19 biomedical arbitrations.

Abbreviations

ACE2
angiotensin-converting enzyme 2
BIBP
Beijing Institute of biological products
CD
cluster of differentiation
CDC
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
COVID-19
coronavirus disease 2019
CRP
C-reactive protein
CTD
C-terminal domains
E
envelope
ELISA
enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
ERGIC
endoplasmic reticulum–Golgi intermediate compartment
ESR
erythrocyte sedimentation rate
FP
fusion-peptide
GCSF
granulocyte colony-stimulating factor
GISAID
Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data
GMTs
geometric mean titers
HCoVs
human coronaviruses
ICU
intensive care unit
Ig
immunoglobulin
IL
interleukin
LDH
lactate dehydrogenase
LNPs
lipid nanoparticles
M
membrane
MERS-CoV
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus
mRNA
messenger RNA
N
nucleocapsid
NABs
neutralization antibodies
Nsp
non-structural proteins
NTD
N-terminal domain
nts
nucleotides
ORFs
open reading frames
PANGOLIN
phylogenetic assignment of named global outbreak lineages
PCR
polymerase chain reaction
pp
polyproteins
r
recombinant
RBD
receptor-binding domain
RdRP
RNA dependent RNA polymerase
RDT
rapid diagnostic test
RNA
ribonucleic acid
ROCM
rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis
S
spike
SARS-CoV
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus
sgRNA
subgenomic RNA
SNP
single nucleotide polymorphism
TAG-VE
Technical Advisory Organization on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution
TMPRSS2
transmembrane protease serine-2
TNF
tumor necrosis factor
VOC
variant of concern
VOHC
variants of high consequences
VOI
variant of interest
WHO
World Health Organization
αCoV
Alpha coronavirus
βCoV
Beta coronavirus
γCoV
Gamma coronavirus
δCoV
Delta coronavirus

Keywords

SARS-CoV-2
Mutation
Variants
Pandemic disease
Vaccines

Data Availability

No data was used for the research described in the article. This is a Literature Review article without any data or code.

Cited by (0)

1

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1143-4018

2

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0136-7096