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Das T, Luo S, Tang H, Fang J, Mao Y, Yen HH, Dash S, Shajahan A, Pepi L, Huang S, Jones VS, Xie S, Huang GF, Lu J, Anderson B, Zhang B, Azadi P, Huang RP. N-glycosylation of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein at Asn331 and Asn343 is involved in spike-ACE2 binding, virus entry, and regulation of IL-6. Microbiol Immunol 2024; 68:165-178. [PMID: 38444370 DOI: 10.1111/1348-0421.13121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 12/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024]
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an ongoing global public health crisis. The causative agent, the SARS-CoV-2 virus, enters host cells via molecular interactions between the viral spike protein and the host cell ACE2 surface protein. The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is extensively decorated with up to 66 N-linked glycans. Glycosylation of viral proteins is known to function in immune evasion strategies but may also function in the molecular events of viral entry into host cells. Here, we show that N-glycosylation at Asn331 and Asn343 of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is required for it to bind to ACE2 and for the entry of pseudovirus harboring the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein into cells. Interestingly, high-content glycan binding screening data have shown that N-glycosylation of Asn331 and Asn343 of the RBD is important for binding to the specific glycan molecule G4GN (Galβ-1,4 GlcNAc), which is critical for spike-RBD-ACE2 binding. Furthermore, IL-6 was identified through antibody array analysis of conditioned media of the corresponding pseudovirus assay. Mutation of N-glycosylation of Asn331 and Asn343 sites of the spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) significantly reduced the transcriptional upregulation of pro-inflammatory signaling molecule IL-6. In addition, IL-6 levels correlated with spike protein levels in COVID-19 patients' serum. These findings establish the importance of RBD glycosylation in SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis, which can be exploited for the development of novel therapeutics for COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tuhin Das
- RayBiotech Life Inc., Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA
| | - Shuhong Luo
- RayBiotech Life Inc., Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA
- RayBiotech Guangzhou Co. Ltd. Guangzhou, Guangzhou, China
| | - Hao Tang
- RayBiotech Life Inc., Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA
- RayBiotech Guangzhou Co. Ltd. Guangzhou, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jianmin Fang
- RayBiotech Life Inc., Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA
- RayBiotech Guangzhou Co. Ltd. Guangzhou, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yinging Mao
- RayBiotech Life Inc., Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA
| | - Haw-Han Yen
- RayBiotech Life Inc., Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA
| | - Sabyasachi Dash
- Department of Pathology, Center for Vascular Biology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Asif Shajahan
- Vaccine Research Center, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA
| | - Lauren Pepi
- Vaccine Research Center, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA
| | - Steven Huang
- RayBiotech Life Inc., Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA
| | | | - Shehuo Xie
- RayBiotech Guangzhou Co. Ltd. Guangzhou, Guangzhou, China
| | | | - Jinqiao Lu
- RayBiotech Life Inc., Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA
| | | | - Benyue Zhang
- RayBiotech Life Inc., Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA
| | - Parastoo Azadi
- Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
| | - Ruo-Pan Huang
- RayBiotech Life Inc., Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA
- RayBiotech Guangzhou Co. Ltd. Guangzhou, Guangzhou, China
- South China Biochip Research Center, Guangzhou, China
- Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
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Ming A, Zhao J, Liu Y, Wang Y, Wang X, Li J, Zhang L. O-glycosylation in viruses: A sweet tango. MLIFE 2024; 3:57-73. [PMID: 38827513 PMCID: PMC11139210 DOI: 10.1002/mlf2.12105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2023] [Revised: 09/26/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 06/04/2024]
Abstract
O-glycosylation is an ancient yet underappreciated protein posttranslational modification, on which many bacteria and viruses heavily rely to perform critical biological functions involved in numerous infectious diseases or even cancer. But due to the innate complexity of O-glycosylation, research techniques have been limited to study its exact role in viral attachment and entry, assembly and exit, spreading in the host cells, and the innate and adaptive immunity of the host. Recently, the advent of many newly developed methodologies (e.g., mass spectrometry, chemical biology tools, and molecular dynamics simulations) has renewed and rekindled the interest in viral-related O-glycosylation in both viral proteins and host cells, which is further fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this review, we summarize recent advances in viral-related O-glycosylation, with a particular emphasis on the mucin-type O-linked α-N-acetylgalactosamine (O-GalNAc) on viral proteins and the intracellular O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) modifications on host proteins. We hope to provide valuable insights into the development of antiviral reagents or vaccines for better prevention or treatment of infectious diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annan Ming
- Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical UniversityJinanChina
- Medical Science and Technology Innovation CenterShandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical SciencesJinanChina
| | - Jianxin Zhao
- Beijing Key Laboratory of DNA Damage Response and College of Life SciencesCapital Normal UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Yihan Liu
- Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical UniversityJinanChina
- Medical Science and Technology Innovation CenterShandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical SciencesJinanChina
| | - Yibo Wang
- Laboratory of Chemical BiologyChangchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of SciencesChangchunChina
| | - Xiaohui Wang
- Laboratory of Chemical BiologyChangchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of SciencesChangchunChina
- School of Applied Chemistry and EngineeringUniversity of Science and Technology of ChinaHefeiChina
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Jing Li
- Beijing Key Laboratory of DNA Damage Response and College of Life SciencesCapital Normal UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Leiliang Zhang
- Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical UniversityJinanChina
- Medical Science and Technology Innovation CenterShandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical SciencesJinanChina
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Prasad R, Ajith H, Kumar Chandrakumaran N, Dnyaneshwar Khangar P, Mohan A, Nelson-Sathi S. In silico study identifies peptide inhibitors that negate the effect of non-synonymous mutations in major drug targets of SARS-CoV-2 variants. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2023; 41:9551-9561. [PMID: 36377464 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2022.2143426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2022] [Accepted: 10/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Since its advent in December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has diverged into multiple variants with differing levels of virulence owing to the accumulation of mutations in its genome. The structural changes induced by non-synonymous mutations in major drug targets of the virus are known to alter the binding of potential antagonistic inhibitors. Here, we analyzed the effects of non-synonymous mutations in major targets of SARS-CoV-2 in response to potential peptide inhibitors. We screened 12 peptides reported to have anti-viral properties against RBD and 5 peptides against Mpro of SARS-CoV-2 variants using molecular docking and simulation approaches. The mutational landscape of RBD among SARS-CoV-2 variants had 21 non-synonymous mutations across 18 distinct sites. Among these, 14 mutations were present in the RBM region directly interacting with the hACE2 receptor. However, Only 3 non-synonymous mutations were observed in Mpro. We found that LCB1 - a de novo-synthesized peptide has the highest binding affinity to RBD despite non-synonymous mutations in variants and engages key residues of RBD-hACE2 interaction such as K417, E484, N487, and N501. Similarly, an antimicrobial peptide; 2JOS, was identified against Mpro with high binding affinity as it interacts with key residues in dimerization sites such as E166 and F140 crucial for viral replication. MD simulations affirm the stability of RBD-LCB1 and Mpro-2JOS complexes with an average RMSD of 1.902 and 2.476 respectively. We ascertain that LCB1 and 2JOS peptides are promising inhibitors to combat emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2 and thus warrant further investigations using in-vitro and in-vivo analysis.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roshny Prasad
- Bioinformatics Laboratory, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, India
| | - Harikrishnan Ajith
- Bioinformatics Laboratory, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, India
| | | | | | - Anand Mohan
- Bioinformatics Laboratory, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, India
| | - Shijulal Nelson-Sathi
- Bioinformatics Laboratory, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, India
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Gonzalez-Rodriguez E, Zol-Hanlon M, Bineva-Todd G, Marchesi A, Skehel M, Mahoney KE, Roustan C, Borg A, Di Vagno L, Kjær S, Wrobel AG, Benton DJ, Nawrath P, Flitsch SL, Joshi D, González-Ramírez A, Wilkinson KA, Wilkinson RJ, Wall EC, Hurtado-Guerrero R, Malaker SA, Schumann B. O-Linked Sialoglycans Modulate the Proteolysis of SARS-CoV-2 Spike and Likely Contribute to the Mutational Trajectory in Variants of Concern. ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE 2023; 9:393-404. [PMID: 36968546 PMCID: PMC10037455 DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.2c01349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
The emergence of a polybasic cleavage motif for the protease furin in SARS-CoV-2 spike has been established as a major factor for human viral transmission. The region N-terminal to that motif is extensively mutated in variants of concern (VOCs). Besides furin, spikes from these variants appear to rely on other proteases for maturation, including TMPRSS2. Glycans near the cleavage site have raised questions about proteolytic processing and the consequences of variant-borne mutations. Here, we identify that sialic acid-containing O-linked glycans on Thr678 of SARS-CoV-2 spike influence furin and TMPRSS2 cleavage and posit O-linked glycosylation as a likely driving force for the emergence of VOC mutations. We provide direct evidence that the glycosyltransferase GalNAc-T1 primes glycosylation at Thr678 in the living cell, an event that is suppressed by mutations in the VOCs Alpha, Delta, and Omicron. We found that the sole incorporation of N-acetylgalactosamine did not impact furin activity in synthetic O-glycopeptides, but the presence of sialic acid reduced the furin rate by up to 65%. Similarly, O-glycosylation with a sialylated trisaccharide had a negative impact on TMPRSS2 cleavage. With a chemistry-centered approach, we substantiate O-glycosylation as a major determinant of spike maturation and propose disruption of O-glycosylation as a substantial driving force for VOC evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edgar Gonzalez-Rodriguez
- Chemical
Glycobiology Laboratory, The Francis Crick
Institute, NW1 1AT London, United Kingdom
- Department
of Chemistry, Imperial College London, W12 0BZ London, United Kingdom
| | - Mia Zol-Hanlon
- Chemical
Glycobiology Laboratory, The Francis Crick
Institute, NW1 1AT London, United Kingdom
- Signalling
and Structural Biology Lab, The Francis
Crick Institute, NW1 1AT London, United Kingdom
| | - Ganka Bineva-Todd
- Chemical
Glycobiology Laboratory, The Francis Crick
Institute, NW1 1AT London, United Kingdom
| | - Andrea Marchesi
- Chemical
Glycobiology Laboratory, The Francis Crick
Institute, NW1 1AT London, United Kingdom
- Department
of Chemistry, Imperial College London, W12 0BZ London, United Kingdom
| | - Mark Skehel
- Proteomics
Science Technology Platform, The Francis
Crick Institute, NW1 1AT London, United Kingdom
| | - Keira E. Mahoney
- Department
of Chemistry, Yale University, 275 Prospect Street, 06511 New Haven, Connecticut, United States
| | - Chloë Roustan
- Structural
Biology Science Technology Platform, The
Francis Crick Institute, NW1 1AT London, United Kingdom
| | - Annabel Borg
- Structural
Biology Science Technology Platform, The
Francis Crick Institute, NW1 1AT London, United Kingdom
| | - Lucia Di Vagno
- Chemical
Glycobiology Laboratory, The Francis Crick
Institute, NW1 1AT London, United Kingdom
- Proteomics
Science Technology Platform, The Francis
Crick Institute, NW1 1AT London, United Kingdom
| | - Svend Kjær
- Structural
Biology Science Technology Platform, The
Francis Crick Institute, NW1 1AT London, United Kingdom
| | - Antoni G. Wrobel
- Structural
Biology of Disease Processes Laboratory, Francis Crick Institute, NW1 1AT London, United Kingdom
| | - Donald J. Benton
- Structural
Biology of Disease Processes Laboratory, Francis Crick Institute, NW1 1AT London, United Kingdom
| | - Philipp Nawrath
- Structural
Biology of Disease Processes Laboratory, Francis Crick Institute, NW1 1AT London, United Kingdom
| | - Sabine L. Flitsch
- Manchester
Institute of Biotechnology, University of
Manchester, 131 Princess Street, M1 7DN Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Dhira Joshi
- Chemical
Biology Science Technology Platform, The
Francis Crick Institute, NW1 1AT London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Katalin A. Wilkinson
- Tuberculosis
Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, NW1 1AT London, United Kingdom
- Wellcome
Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, 7925 Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Robert J. Wilkinson
- Tuberculosis
Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, NW1 1AT London, United Kingdom
- Wellcome
Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa, University of Cape Town, 7925 Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa
- Department
of Infectious Diseases, Imperial College
London, W12 0NN London, United Kingdom
- Institute
of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and Department of Medicine, University of Cape Town, 7925 Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Emma C. Wall
- The Francis
Crick Institute, NW1 1AT London, United Kingdom
- University
College London Hospitals (UCLH) Biomedical Research Centre, W1T 7DN London, United Kingdom
| | - Ramón Hurtado-Guerrero
- Institute
of Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems, University of Zaragoza, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
- Copenhagen
Center for Glycomics, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
- Fundación
ARAID, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Stacy A. Malaker
- Department
of Chemistry, Yale University, 275 Prospect Street, 06511 New Haven, Connecticut, United States
| | - Benjamin Schumann
- Chemical
Glycobiology Laboratory, The Francis Crick
Institute, NW1 1AT London, United Kingdom
- Department
of Chemistry, Imperial College London, W12 0BZ London, United Kingdom
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5
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Chourasia P, Ali S, Ciccolella S, Vedova GD, Patterson M. Reads2Vec: Efficient Embedding of Raw High-Throughput Sequencing Reads Data. JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY : A JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY 2023; 30:469-491. [PMID: 36730750 DOI: 10.1089/cmb.2022.0424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
The massive amount of genomic data appearing for SARS-CoV-2 since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged traditional methods for studying its dynamics. As a result, new methods such as Pangolin, which can scale to the millions of samples of SARS-CoV-2 currently available, have appeared. Such a tool is tailored to take as input assembled, aligned, and curated full-length sequences, such as those found in the GISAID database. As high-throughput sequencing technologies continue to advance, such assembly, alignment, and curation may become a bottleneck, creating a need for methods that can process raw sequencing reads directly. In this article, we propose Reads2Vec, an alignment-free embedding approach that can generate a fixed-length feature vector representation directly from the raw sequencing reads without requiring assembly. Furthermore, since such an embedding is a numerical representation, it may be applied to highly optimized classification and clustering algorithms. Experiments on simulated data show that our proposed embedding obtains better classification results and better clustering properties contrary to existing alignment-free baselines. In a study on real data, we show that alignment-free embeddings have better clustering properties than the Pangolin tool and that the spike region of the SARS-CoV-2 genome heavily informs the alignment-free clusterings, which is consistent with current biological knowledge of SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prakash Chourasia
- Department of Computer Science, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Sarwan Ali
- Department of Computer Science, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Simone Ciccolella
- Department of Informatics, Systems and Communication (DISCo), University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Gianluca Della Vedova
- Department of Informatics, Systems and Communication (DISCo), University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Murray Patterson
- Department of Computer Science, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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Hanifa M, Salman M, Fatima M, Mukhtar N, Almajhdi FN, Zaman N, Suleman M, Ali SS, Waheed Y, Khan A. Mutational analysis of the spike protein of SARS-COV-2 isolates revealed atomistic features responsible for higher binding and infectivity. Front Cell Dev Biol 2023; 10:940863. [PMID: 36733340 PMCID: PMC9888553 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.940863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2022] [Accepted: 12/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction: The perpetual appearance of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2), and its new variants devastated the public health and social fabric around the world. Understanding the genomic patterns and connecting them to phenotypic attributes is of great interest to devise a treatment strategy to control this pandemic. Materials and Methods: In this regard, computational methods to understand the evolution, dynamics and mutational spectrum of SARS-CoV-2 and its new variants are significantly important. Thus, herein, we used computational methods to screen the genomes of SARS-CoV-2 isolated from Pakistan and connect them to the phenotypic attributes of spike protein; we used stability-function correlation methods, protein-protein docking, and molecular dynamics simulation. Results: Using the Global initiative on sharing all influenza data (GISAID) a total of 21 unique mutations were identified, among which five were reported as stabilizing while 16 were destabilizing revealed through mCSM, DynaMut 2.0, and I-Mutant servers. Protein-protein docking with Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and monoclonal antibody (4A8) revealed that mutation G446V in the receptor-binding domain; R102S and G181V in the N-terminal domain (NTD) significantly affected the binding and thus increased the infectivity. The interaction pattern also revealed significant variations in the hydrogen bonding, salt bridges and non-bonded contact networks. The structural-dynamic features of these mutations revealed the global dynamic trend and the finding energy calculation further established that the G446V mutation increases the binding affinity towards ACE2 while R102S and G181V help in evading the host immune response. The other mutations reported supplement these processes indirectly. The binding free energy results revealed that wild type-RBD has a TBE of -60.55 kcal/mol while G446V-RBD reported a TBE of -73.49 kcal/mol. On the other hand, wild type-NTD reported -67.77 kcal/mol of TBE, R102S-NTD reported -51.25 kcal/mol of TBE while G181V-NTD reported a TBE of -63.68 kcal/mol. Conclusions: In conclusion, the current findings revealed basis for higher infectivity and immune evasion associated with the aforementioned mutations and structure-based drug discovery against such variants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Hanifa
- Centre for Biotechnology and Microbiology, University of Swat, Charbagh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
| | | | | | - Naila Mukhtar
- Department of Botany, University of Okara, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Fahad N. Almajhdi
- COVID-19 Virus Research Chair, Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Nasib Zaman
- Centre for Biotechnology and Microbiology, University of Swat, Charbagh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Suleman
- Centre for Biotechnology and Microbiology, University of Swat, Charbagh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
| | - Syed Shujait Ali
- Centre for Biotechnology and Microbiology, University of Swat, Charbagh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
| | - Yasir Waheed
- Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialization, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU), Islamabad, Pakistan,Gilbert and Rose-Marie Chagoury School of Medicine, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon,*Correspondence: Yasir Waheed, ; Abbas Khan,
| | - Abbas Khan
- Department of Bioinformatics and Biological Statistics, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China,*Correspondence: Yasir Waheed, ; Abbas Khan,
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Masoomi Nomandan SZ, Azimzadeh Irani M, Hosseini SM. In silico design of refined ferritin-SARS-CoV-2 glyco-RBD nanoparticle vaccine. Front Mol Biosci 2022; 9:976490. [PMID: 36148012 PMCID: PMC9486171 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.976490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2022] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
With the onset of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, all attention was drawn to finding solutions to cure the coronavirus disease. Among all vaccination strategies, the nanoparticle vaccine has been shown to stimulate the immune system and provide optimal immunity to the virus in a single dose. Ferritin is a reliable self-assembled nanoparticle platform for vaccine production that has already been used in experimental studies. Furthermore, glycosylation plays a crucial role in the design of antibodies and vaccines and is an essential element in developing effective subunit vaccines. In this computational study, ferritin nanoparticles and glycosylation, which are two unique facets of vaccine design, were used to model improved nanoparticle vaccines for the first time. In this regard, molecular modeling and molecular dynamics simulation were carried out to construct three atomistic models of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) receptor binding domain (RBD)-ferritin nanoparticle vaccine, including unglycosylated, glycosylated, and modified with additional O-glycans at the ferritin–RBD interface. It was shown that the ferritin–RBD complex becomes more stable when glycans are added to the ferritin–RBD interface and optimal performance of this nanoparticle can be achieved. If validated experimentally, these findings could improve the design of nanoparticles against all microbial infections.
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Candido KL, Eich CR, de Fariña LO, Kadowaki MK, da Conceição Silva JL, Maller A, Simão RDCG. Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 variants: a brief review and practical implications. Braz J Microbiol 2022; 53:1133-1157. [PMID: 35397075 PMCID: PMC8994061 DOI: 10.1007/s42770-022-00743-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The scientific community has been alarmed by the possible immunological evasion, higher infectivity, and severity of disease caused by the newest variants of SARS-CoV-2. The spike protein has an important role in the cellular invasion of viruses and is the target of several vaccines and therapeutic resources, such as monoclonal antibodies. In addition, some of the most relevant mutations in the different variants are on the spike (S) protein gene sequence that leads to structural alterations in the predicted protein, thus causing concern about the protection mediated by vaccines against these new strains. The present review highlights the most recent knowledge about COVID-19 and vaccines, emphasizing the different spike protein structures of SARS-CoV-2 and updating the reader about the emerging viral variants and their classifications, the more common viral mutations described and their distribution in Brazil. It also compiles a table with the most recent knowledge about all of the Omicron spike mutations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kattlyn Laryssa Candido
- Present Address: Laboratório de Bioquímica Molecular (LaBioqMol), Centro de Ciências Médicas e Farmacêuticas, Unioeste, Cascavel, PR Brazil
| | - Caio Ricardo Eich
- Present Address: Laboratório de Bioquímica Molecular (LaBioqMol), Centro de Ciências Médicas e Farmacêuticas, Unioeste, Cascavel, PR Brazil
| | - Luciana Oliveira de Fariña
- Present Address: Laboratório de Bioquímica Molecular (LaBioqMol), Centro de Ciências Médicas e Farmacêuticas, Unioeste, Cascavel, PR Brazil
| | - Marina Kimiko Kadowaki
- Present Address: Laboratório de Bioquímica Molecular (LaBioqMol), Centro de Ciências Médicas e Farmacêuticas, Unioeste, Cascavel, PR Brazil
| | - José Luis da Conceição Silva
- Present Address: Laboratório de Bioquímica Molecular (LaBioqMol), Centro de Ciências Médicas e Farmacêuticas, Unioeste, Cascavel, PR Brazil
| | - Alexandre Maller
- Present Address: Laboratório de Bioquímica Molecular (LaBioqMol), Centro de Ciências Médicas e Farmacêuticas, Unioeste, Cascavel, PR Brazil
| | - Rita de Cássia Garcia Simão
- Present Address: Laboratório de Bioquímica Molecular (LaBioqMol), Centro de Ciências Médicas e Farmacêuticas, Unioeste, Cascavel, PR Brazil
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9
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Sun Q, Huang Z, Yang S, Li Y, Ma Y, Yang F, Zhang Y, Xu F. Bioinformatics-based SARS-CoV-2 epitopes design and the impact of Spike protein mutants on epitope humoral immunities. Immunobiology 2022; 227:152287. [PMID: 36244092 PMCID: PMC9516880 DOI: 10.1016/j.imbio.2022.152287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2022] [Revised: 09/10/2022] [Accepted: 09/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Background Epitope selection is the key to peptide vaccines development. Bioinformatics tools can efficiently improve the screening of antigenic epitopes and help to choose the right ones. Objective To predict, synthesize and testify peptide epitopes at spike protein, assess the effect of mutations on epitope humoral immunity, thus provide clues for the design and development of epitope peptide vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. Methods Bioinformatics servers and immunological tools were used to identify the helper T lymphocyte, cytotoxic T lymphocyte, and linear B lymphocyte epitopes on the S protein of SARS-CoV-2. Physicochemical properties of candidate epitopes were analyzed using IEDB, VaxiJen, and AllerTOP online software. Three candidate epitopes were synthesized and their antigenic responses were evaluated by binding antibody detection. Results A total of 20 antigenic, non-toxic and non-allergenic candidate epitopes were identified from 1502 epitopes, including 6 helper T-cell epitopes, 13 cytotoxic T-cell epitopes, and 1 linear B cell epitope. After immunization with antigen containing candidate epitopes S206-221, S403-425, and S1157-1170 in rabbits, the binding titers of serum antibody to the corresponding peptide, S protein, receptor-binding domain protein were (415044, 2582, 209.3), (852819, 45238, 457767) and (357897, 10528, 13.79), respectively. The binding titers to Omicron S protein were 642, 12,878 and 7750, respectively, showing that N211L, DEL212 and K417N mutations cause the reduction of the antibody binding activity. Conclusions Bioinformatic methods are effective in peptide epitopes design. Certain mutations of the Omicron would lead to the loss of antibody affinity to Omicron S protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Sun
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Division, Department of Pharmacy, Medical Supplies Centre of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China; Medical School of Chinese PLA, Beijing, China
| | - Zhuanqing Huang
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Division, Department of Pharmacy, Medical Supplies Centre of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China; Medical School of Chinese PLA, Beijing, China
| | - Sen Yang
- Medical School of Chinese PLA, Beijing, China; Chinese People's Armed Police Force Hospital of Beijing, Beijing, China
| | - Yuanyuan Li
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Division, Department of Pharmacy, Medical Supplies Centre of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China; Medical School of Chinese PLA, Beijing, China
| | - Yue Ma
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Division, Department of Pharmacy, Medical Supplies Centre of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China; Medical School of Chinese PLA, Beijing, China
| | - Fei Yang
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Division, Department of Pharmacy, Medical Supplies Centre of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China; Medical School of Chinese PLA, Beijing, China
| | - Ying Zhang
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Division, Department of Pharmacy, Medical Supplies Centre of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Fenghua Xu
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Division, Department of Pharmacy, Medical Supplies Centre of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
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10
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Sorokina M, Belapure J, Tüting C, Paschke R, Papasotiriou I, Rodrigues JP, Kastritis PL. An Electrostatically-steered Conformational Selection Mechanism Promotes SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Variation. J Mol Biol 2022; 434:167637. [PMID: 35595165 PMCID: PMC9112565 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2022.167637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2022] [Revised: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
After two years since the outbreak, the COVID-19 pandemic remains a global public health emergency. SARS-CoV-2 variants with substitutions on the spike (S) protein emerge increasing the risk of immune evasion and cross-species transmission. Here, we analyzed the evolution of the S protein as recorded in 276,712 samples collected before the start of vaccination efforts. Our analysis shows that most variants destabilize the S protein trimer, increase its conformational heterogeneity and improve the odds of the recognition by the host cell receptor. Most frequent substitutions promote overall hydrophobicity by replacing charged amino acids, reducing stabilizing local interactions in the unbound S protein trimer. Moreover, our results identify "forbidden" regions that rarely show any sequence variation, and which are related to conformational changes occurring upon fusion. These results are significant for understanding the structure and function of SARS-CoV-2 related proteins which is a critical step in vaccine development and epidemiological surveillance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marija Sorokina
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Kurt-Mothes-Str. 3, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany,RGCC International GmbH, Baarerstrasse 95, Zug 6300, Switzerland,BioSolutions GmbH, Weinbergweg 22, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany
| | - Jaydeep Belapure
- Interdisciplinary Research Center HALOmem, Charles Tanford Protein Center, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Kurt-Mothes-Str. 3a, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany
| | - Christian Tüting
- Interdisciplinary Research Center HALOmem, Charles Tanford Protein Center, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Kurt-Mothes-Str. 3a, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany
| | - Reinhard Paschke
- BioSolutions GmbH, Weinbergweg 22, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany,Biozentrum, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Weinbergweg 22, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany
| | | | | | - Panagiotis L. Kastritis
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Kurt-Mothes-Str. 3, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany,Interdisciplinary Research Center HALOmem, Charles Tanford Protein Center, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Kurt-Mothes-Str. 3a, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany,Biozentrum, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Weinbergweg 22, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany,Corresponding author at: Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Kurt-Mothes-Str. 3, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany
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11
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Kapoor K, Chen T, Tajkhorshid E. Posttranslational modifications optimize the ability of SARS-CoV-2 spike for effective interaction with host cell receptors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2119761119. [PMID: 35737823 PMCID: PMC9282386 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2119761119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2021] [Accepted: 03/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike glycoprotein is the prime target for vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutic antibodies against the virus. While anchored in the viral envelope, for effective virulence, the spike needs to maintain structural flexibility to recognize the host cell surface receptors and bind to them, a property that can heavily depend upon the dynamics of the unresolved domains, most prominently the stalk. Construction of the complete, membrane-bound spike model and the description of its dynamics are critical steps in understanding the inner working of this key element of the viral infection by SARS-CoV-2. Combining homology modeling, protein-protein docking, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we have developed a full spike structure in a native membrane. Multimicrosecond MD simulations of this model, the longest known single trajectory of the full spike, reveal conformational dynamics employed by the protein to explore the surface of the host cell. In agreement with cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), three flexible hinges in the stalk allow for global conformational heterogeneity of spike in the fully glycosylated system mediated by glycan-glycan and glycan-lipid interactions. The dynamical range of the spike is considerably reduced in its nonglycosylated form, confining the area explored by the spike on the host cell surface. Furthermore, palmitoylation of the membrane domain amplifies the local curvature that may prime the fusion. We show that the identified hinge regions are highly conserved in SARS coronaviruses, highlighting their functional importance in enhancing viral infection, and thereby, provide points for discovery of alternative therapeutics against the virus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karan Kapoor
- Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, NIH Center for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801
- Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801
| | - Tianle Chen
- Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, NIH Center for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801
- Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801
| | - Emad Tajkhorshid
- Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, NIH Center for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801
- Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801
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12
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Fell R, Potter JA, Yuille S, Salguero FJ, Watson R, Ngabo D, Gooch K, Hewson R, Howat D, Dowall S. Activity of a Carbohydrate-Binding Module Therapy, Neumifil, against SARS-CoV-2 Disease in a Hamster Model of Infection. Viruses 2022; 14:v14050976. [PMID: 35632718 PMCID: PMC9147764 DOI: 10.3390/v14050976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2022] [Revised: 05/01/2022] [Accepted: 05/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The rapid global spread of severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in an urgent effort to find efficacious therapeutics. Broad-spectrum therapies which could be used for other respiratory pathogens confer advantages, as do those based on targeting host cells that are not prone to the development of resistance by the pathogen. We tested an intranasally delivered carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) therapy, termed Neumifil, which is based on a CBM that has previously been shown to offer protection against the influenza virus through the binding of sialic acid receptors. Using the recognised hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, we demonstrate that Neumifil significantly reduces clinical disease severity and pathological changes in the nasal cavity. Furthermore, we demonstrate Neumifil binding to the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor and spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. This is the first report describing the testing of this type of broad-spectrum antiviral therapy in vivo and provides evidence for the advancement of Neumifil in further preclinical and clinical studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel Fell
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Porton Down, Salisbury SP4 0JG, UK; (R.F.); (F.J.S.); (R.W.); (D.N.); (K.G.); (R.H.)
| | - Jane A. Potter
- Pneumagen Ltd., Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9DR, UK; (J.A.P.); (S.Y.); (D.H.)
| | - Samantha Yuille
- Pneumagen Ltd., Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9DR, UK; (J.A.P.); (S.Y.); (D.H.)
| | - Franscisco J. Salguero
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Porton Down, Salisbury SP4 0JG, UK; (R.F.); (F.J.S.); (R.W.); (D.N.); (K.G.); (R.H.)
| | - Robert Watson
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Porton Down, Salisbury SP4 0JG, UK; (R.F.); (F.J.S.); (R.W.); (D.N.); (K.G.); (R.H.)
| | - Didier Ngabo
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Porton Down, Salisbury SP4 0JG, UK; (R.F.); (F.J.S.); (R.W.); (D.N.); (K.G.); (R.H.)
| | - Karen Gooch
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Porton Down, Salisbury SP4 0JG, UK; (R.F.); (F.J.S.); (R.W.); (D.N.); (K.G.); (R.H.)
| | - Roger Hewson
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Porton Down, Salisbury SP4 0JG, UK; (R.F.); (F.J.S.); (R.W.); (D.N.); (K.G.); (R.H.)
| | - David Howat
- Pneumagen Ltd., Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9DR, UK; (J.A.P.); (S.Y.); (D.H.)
| | - Stuart Dowall
- United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Porton Down, Salisbury SP4 0JG, UK; (R.F.); (F.J.S.); (R.W.); (D.N.); (K.G.); (R.H.)
- Correspondence:
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13
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Ahan RE, Hanifehnezhad A, Kehribar EŞ, Oguzoglu TC, Földes K, Özçelik CE, Filazi N, Öztop S, Palaz F, Önder S, Bozkurt EU, Ergünay K, Özkul A, Şeker UÖŞ. A Highly Potent SARS-CoV-2 Blocking Lectin Protein. ACS Infect Dis 2022; 8:1253-1264. [PMID: 35426678 PMCID: PMC9017247 DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.2c00006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
![]()
The COVID-19 (coronavirus
disease-19) pandemic affected more than
180 million people around the globe, causing more than five million
deaths as of January 2022. SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome
coronavirus 2), the new coronavirus, has been identified as the primary
cause of the infection. The number of vaccinated people is increasing;
however, prophylactic drugs are highly demanded to ensure secure social
contact. A number of drug molecules have been repurposed to fight
against SARS-CoV-2, and some of them have been proven to be effective
in preventing hospitalization or ICU admissions. Here, we demonstrated
griffithsin (GRFT), a lectin protein, to block the entry of SARS-CoV-2
and its variants, Delta and Omicron, into the Vero E6 cell lines and
IFNAR–/– mouse models by attaching to the
spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. Given the current mutation frequency
of SARS-CoV-2, we believe that GRFT protein-based drugs will have
a high impact in preventing the transmission of both the Wuhan strain
as well as any other emerging variants, including Delta and Omicron
variants, causing the high-speed spread of COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Recep E. Ahan
- UNAM-Institute of Materials Science and Nanotechnology, Bilkent University, Ankara 06800, Turkey
| | - Alireza Hanifehnezhad
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Virology, Ankara University, Ankara 06110, Turkey
| | - Ebru Ş. Kehribar
- UNAM-Institute of Materials Science and Nanotechnology, Bilkent University, Ankara 06800, Turkey
| | - Tuba C. Oguzoglu
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Virology, Ankara University, Ankara 06110, Turkey
| | - Katalin Földes
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Virology, Ankara University, Ankara 06110, Turkey
| | - Cemile E. Özçelik
- UNAM-Institute of Materials Science and Nanotechnology, Bilkent University, Ankara 06800, Turkey
| | - Nazlican Filazi
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Virology, Ankara University, Ankara 06110, Turkey
| | - Sıdıka Öztop
- Adana Dr. Turgut Noyan Medical and Research Center, Department of Immunology, Baskent University, Adana 01250, Turkey
| | - Fahreddin Palaz
- Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara 06230, Turkey
| | - Sevgen Önder
- Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Pathology, Hacettepe University, Ankara 06230, Turkey
| | - Eray U. Bozkurt
- UNAM-Institute of Materials Science and Nanotechnology, Bilkent University, Ankara 06800, Turkey
| | - Koray Ergünay
- Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Microbiology, Virology Unit, Hacettepe University, Ankara 06230, Turkey
| | - Aykut Özkul
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Virology, Ankara University, Ankara 06110, Turkey
- Biotechnology Institute, Ankara University, Ankara 06135, Turkey
| | - Urartu Özgür Şafak Şeker
- UNAM-Institute of Materials Science and Nanotechnology, Bilkent University, Ankara 06800, Turkey
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14
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Qiu C, Xiao C, Wang Z, Zhu G, Mao L, Chen X, Gao L, Deng J, Su J, Su H, Fang EF, Zhang ZJ, Zhang J, Xie C, Yuan J, Luo OJ, Huang L, Wang P, Chen G. CD8+ T-Cell Epitope Variations Suggest a Potential Antigen HLA-A2 Binding Deficiency for Spike Protein of SARS-CoV-2. Front Immunol 2022; 12:764949. [PMID: 35116022 PMCID: PMC8804355 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.764949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
We identified SARS-CoV-2 specific antigen epitopes by HLA-A2 binding affinity analysis and characterized their ability to activate T cells. As the pandemic continues, variations in SARS-CoV-2 virus strains have been found in many countries. In this study, we directly assess the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 epitope variants. We first predicted potential HLA-A*02:01-restricted CD8+ T-cell epitopes of SARS-CoV-2. Using the T2 cell model, HLA-A*02:01-restricted T-cell epitopes were screened for their binding affinity and ability to activate T cells. Subsequently, we examined the identified epitope variations and analyzed their impact on immune response. Here, we identified specific HLA-A2-restricted T-cell epitopes in the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. Seven epitope peptides were confirmed to bind with HLA-A*02:01 and potentially be presented by antigen-presenting cells to induce host immune responses. Tetramers containing these peptides could interact with specific CD8+ T cells from convalescent COVID-19 patients, and one dominant epitope (n-Sp1) was defined. These epitopes could activate and generate epitope-specific T cells in vitro, and those activated T cells showed cytolytic activity toward target cells. Meanwhile, n-Sp1 epitope variant 5L>F significantly decreased the proportion of specific T-cell activation; n-Sp1 epitope 8L>V variant showed significantly reduced binding to HLA-A*02:01 and decreased proportion of n-Sp1-specific CD8+ T cell, which potentially contributes to the immune escape of SARS-CoV-2. Our data indicate that the variation of a dominant epitope will cause the deficiency of HLA-A*02:01 binding and T-cell activation, which subsequently requires the formation of a new CD8+ T-cell immune response in COVID-19 patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Congling Qiu
- Department of Neurology, Affiliated Huaqiao Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Geriatric Immunology, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Great Bay Area Geroscience Joint Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chanchan Xiao
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Geriatric Immunology, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Great Bay Area Geroscience Joint Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zhigang Wang
- Department of Neurology, Affiliated Huaqiao Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Guodong Zhu
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Great Bay Area Geroscience Joint Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- Department of Geriatrics, Guangzhou First People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
| | - Lipeng Mao
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Geriatric Immunology, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Great Bay Area Geroscience Joint Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiongfei Chen
- Department of Primary Public Health, Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guangzhou, China
| | - Lijuan Gao
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Geriatric Immunology, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Great Bay Area Geroscience Joint Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jieping Deng
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Geriatric Immunology, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Great Bay Area Geroscience Joint Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jun Su
- Department of Neurology, Affiliated Huaqiao Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Huanxing Su
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Great Bay Area Geroscience Joint Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, Macau SAR, China
| | - Evandro Fei Fang
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Great Bay Area Geroscience Joint Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- Department of Clinical Molecular Biology, University of Oslo and Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway
| | - Zhang-Jin Zhang
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Great Bay Area Geroscience Joint Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- School of Chinese Medicine, Li Ka Shing (LKS) Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Jikai Zhang
- Department of Biological Products and Materia Medica, Institute of Biologics and Pharmaceuticals Research, Guangzhou, China
| | - Caojun Xie
- Department of Primary Public Health, Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jun Yuan
- Department of Primary Public Health, Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guangzhou, China
| | - Oscar Junhong Luo
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Great Bay Area Geroscience Joint Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- Department of Systems Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Li`an Huang
- Department of Neurology, Affiliated Huaqiao Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Pengcheng Wang
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Geriatric Immunology, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Great Bay Area Geroscience Joint Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- *Correspondence: Pengcheng Wang, ; Guobing Chen,
| | - Guobing Chen
- Department of Neurology, Affiliated Huaqiao Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Geriatric Immunology, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Great Bay Area Geroscience Joint Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- *Correspondence: Pengcheng Wang, ; Guobing Chen,
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15
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E484K and N501Y SARS-CoV 2 spike mutants Increase ACE2 recognition but reduce affinity for neutralizing antibody. Int Immunopharmacol 2021; 102:108424. [PMID: 34915409 PMCID: PMC8641390 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2021.108424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2021] [Revised: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 11/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
SARS-CoV2 mutants B.1.1.7, B.1.351, and P.1 contain a key mutation N501Y. B.1.135 and P.1 lineages have another mutation, E484K. Here, we decode the effect of these two mutations on the host receptor, ACE2, and neutralizing antibody (B38) recognition. The N501Y RBD mutant binds to ACE2 with higher affinity due to improved π-π stacking and π-cation interactions. The higher binding affinity of the E484K mutant is caused due to the formation of additional hydrogen bond and salt-bridge interactions with ACE2. Both the mutants bind to the B38 antibody with reduced affinity due to the loss of several hydrogen-bonding interactions. The insights obtained from the study are crucial to interpret the increased transmissibility and reduced neutralization efficacy of rapidly emerging SARS-CoV2 VOCs.
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16
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Kim GN, Choi JA, Wu K, Saeedian N, Yang E, Park H, Woo SJ, Lim G, Kim SG, Eo SK, Jeong HW, Kim T, Chang JH, Seo SH, Kim NH, Choi E, Choo S, Lee S, Winterborn A, Li Y, Parham K, Donovan JM, Fenton B, Dikeakos JD, Dekaban GA, Haeryfar SMM, Troyer RM, Arts EJ, Barr SD, Song M, Kang CY. A vesicular stomatitis virus-based prime-boost vaccination strategy induces potent and protective neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. PLoS Pathog 2021; 17:e1010092. [PMID: 34914812 PMCID: PMC8675757 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The development of safe and effective vaccines to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections remains an urgent priority worldwide. We have used a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV)-based prime-boost immunization strategy to develop an effective COVID-19 vaccine candidate. We have constructed VSV genomes carrying exogenous genes resulting in the production of avirulent rVSV carrying the full-length spike protein (SF), the S1 subunit, or the receptor-binding domain (RBD) plus envelope (E) protein of SARS-CoV-2. Adding the honeybee melittin signal peptide (msp) to the N-terminus enhanced the protein expression, and adding the VSV G protein transmembrane domain and the cytoplasmic tail (Gtc) enhanced protein incorporation into pseudotype VSV. All rVSVs expressed three different forms of SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins, but chimeras with VSV-Gtc demonstrated the highest rVSV-associated expression. In immunized mice, rVSV with chimeric S protein-Gtc derivatives induced the highest level of potent neutralizing antibodies and T cell responses, and rVSV harboring the full-length msp-SF-Gtc proved to be the superior immunogen. More importantly, rVSV-msp-SF-Gtc vaccinated animals were completely protected from a subsequent SARS-CoV-2 challenge. Overall, we have developed an efficient strategy to induce a protective response in SARS-CoV-2 challenged immunized mice. Vaccination with our rVSV-based vector may be an effective solution in the global fight against COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has had unprecedented global health, economic and societal impact globally. Vaccinating the majority of the world’s population is the best way to help prevent new infections. Many vaccines have been developed to prevent various viral diseases that are currently in use around the world. This has generated a high demand for these vaccines, putting a strain on production capacity and delivery. With new variants of concern starting to dominate the human pandemic, new derivatives of the current vaccines may be necessary for continued protection from SARS-CoV-2 infection. We have developed a vaccine that uses a safe vesicular stomatitis virus-based delivery vehicle to present a key SARS-CoV-2 protein to our immune system in order to train it to recognize and prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our vaccine completely protected vaccinated animals from SARS-CoV-2 infection and significantly reduced lung damage, a major hallmark of COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gyoung Nyoun Kim
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jung-ah Choi
- International Vaccine Institute, SNU Research Park, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Korea
| | - Kunyu Wu
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Nasrin Saeedian
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Eunji Yang
- International Vaccine Institute, SNU Research Park, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Korea
| | - Hayan Park
- International Vaccine Institute, SNU Research Park, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Korea
| | - Sun-Je Woo
- International Vaccine Institute, SNU Research Park, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Korea
| | - Gippeum Lim
- International Vaccine Institute, SNU Research Park, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Korea
| | - Seong-Gyu Kim
- International Vaccine Institute, SNU Research Park, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Korea
| | - Su-Kyeong Eo
- International Vaccine Institute, SNU Research Park, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Korea
| | - Hoe Won Jeong
- International Vaccine Institute, SNU Research Park, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Korea
| | - Taewoo Kim
- International Vaccine Institute, SNU Research Park, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Korea
| | - Jae-Hyung Chang
- International Vaccine Institute, SNU Research Park, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Korea
| | - Sang Hwan Seo
- International Vaccine Institute, SNU Research Park, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Korea
| | - Na Hyung Kim
- Sumagen, 4F Dongwon Bldg, Teheran-ro 77-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea
| | - Eunsil Choi
- Sumagen, 4F Dongwon Bldg, Teheran-ro 77-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea
| | - Seungho Choo
- Sumagen, 4F Dongwon Bldg, Teheran-ro 77-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea
| | - Sangkyun Lee
- Sumagen, 4F Dongwon Bldg, Teheran-ro 77-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea
| | | | - Yue Li
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Kate Parham
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Justin M. Donovan
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Brock Fenton
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jimmy D. Dikeakos
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Gregory A. Dekaban
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
- Molecular Medicine Research Laboratories, Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - S. M. Mansour Haeryfar
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Ryan M. Troyer
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Eric J. Arts
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Stephen D. Barr
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Manki Song
- International Vaccine Institute, SNU Research Park, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Korea
| | - C. Yong Kang
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
- * E-mail:
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17
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Ma LL, Liu HM, Liu XM, Yuan XY, Xu C, Wang F, Lin JZ, Xu RC, Zhang DK. Screening S protein - ACE2 blockers from natural products: Strategies and advances in the discovery of potential inhibitors of COVID-19. Eur J Med Chem 2021; 226:113857. [PMID: 34628234 PMCID: PMC8489279 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2021.113857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Revised: 09/11/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 02/09/2023]
Abstract
The Coronavirus disease, 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which poses a major threat to human life and health. Given its continued development, limiting the spread of COVID-19 in the population remains a challenging task. Currently, multiple therapies are being tried around the world to deal with SARS-CoV-2 infection, and a variety of studies have shown that natural products have a significant effect on COVID-19 patients. The combination of SARS-CoV-2 S protein with Angiotensin converting enzyme II(ACE2) of host cell to promote membrane fusion is an initial critical step for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Therefore, screening natural products that inhibit the binding of SARS-CoV-2 S protein and ACE2 also provides a feasible strategy for the treatment of COVID-19. Establishment of high throughput screening model is an important basis and key technology for screening S protein-ACE2 blockers. Based on this, the molecular structures of SARS-CoV-2 and ACE2 and their processes in the life cycle of SARS-CoV-2 and host cell infection were firstly reviewed in this paper, with emphasis on the methods and techniques of screening S protein-ACE2 blockers, including Virtual Screening (VS), Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR), Biochromatography, Biotin-avidin with Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent assay and Gene Chip Technology. Furthermore, the technical principle, advantages and disadvantages and application scope were further elaborated. Combined with the application of the above screening technologies in S protein-ACE2 blockers, a variety of natural products, such as flavonoids, terpenoids, phenols, alkaloids, were summarized, which could be used as S protein-ACE2 blockers, in order to provide ideas for the efficient discovery of S protein-ACE2 blockers from natural sources and contribute to the development of broad-spectrum anti coronavirus drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Le-le Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 611137, PR China
| | - Hui-Min Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 611137, PR China
| | - Xue-Mei Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 611137, PR China
| | - Xiao-Yu Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 611137, PR China
| | - Chao Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 611137, PR China
| | - Fang Wang
- Key Laboratory of Modern Chinese Medicine Preparation of Ministry of Education, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Central Laboratory, Nanchang, 330000, PR China
| | - Jun-Zhi Lin
- TCM Regulating Metabolic Diseases Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 610072, PR China.
| | - Run-Chun Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 611137, PR China.
| | - Ding-Kun Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 611137, PR China.
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18
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Al-Jaf SMA, Niranji SS, Mahmood ZH. Rapid, inexpensive methods for exploring SARS CoV-2 D614G mutation. Meta Gene 2021; 30:100950. [PMID: 34307051 PMCID: PMC8286243 DOI: 10.1016/j.mgene.2021.100950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2021] [Revised: 06/19/2021] [Accepted: 07/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
A common mutation has occurred in the spike protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2), known as D614G (A23403G). There are discrepancies in the impact of this mutation on the virus's infectivity. Also, the whole genome sequencings are expensive and time-consuming. This study aims to develop three fast economical assays for prompt identifications of the D614G mutation including Taqman probe-based real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT PCR), an amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS) RT and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), in nasopharyngeal swab samples. Both rRT and ARMS data showed G614 mutants indicated by the presence of HEX probe and 176 bp, respectively. Additionally, the results of the RFLP data and DNA sequencings confirmed the prevalence of the G614 mutants. These methods will be important, in epidemiological, reinfections and zoonotic aspects, through detecting the G614 mutant in retro-perspective samples to track its origins and future re-emergence of D614 wild type.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sirwan M A Al-Jaf
- Department of Biology, College of Education, University of Garmian, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
- Coronavirus Research and Identification Lab., University of Garmian, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
| | - Sherko S Niranji
- Department of Biology, College of Education, University of Garmian, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
- Coronavirus Research and Identification Lab., University of Garmian, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
| | - Zana H Mahmood
- Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, Sulaimani Veterinary Directorate, Sulaimani, Kurdistan, Iraq
- Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, UK
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19
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Das J, Thakuri B, MohanKumar K, Roy S, Sljoka A, Sun GQ, Chakraborty A. Mutation-Induced Long-Range Allosteric Interactions in the Spike Protein Determine the Infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 Emerging Variants. ACS OMEGA 2021; 6:31312-31327. [PMID: 34805715 PMCID: PMC8592041 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c05155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2021] [Accepted: 11/01/2021] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
The emergence of a variety of highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants, the causative agent of COVID-19, with multiple spike mutations poses serious challenges in overcoming the ongoing deadly pandemic. It is, therefore, essential to understand how these variants gain enhanced ability to evade immune responses with a higher rate of spreading infection. To address this question, here we have individually assessed the effects of SARS-CoV-2 variant-specific spike (S) protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) mutations E484K, K417N, L452Q, L452R, N501Y, and T478K that characterize and differentiate several emerging variants. Despite the hundreds of apparently neutral mutations observed in the domains other than the RBD, we have shown that each RBD mutation site is differentially engaged in an interdomain allosteric network involving mutation sites from a distant domain, affecting interactions with the human receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2). This allosteric network couples the residues of the N-terminal domain (NTD) and the RBD, which are modulated by the RBD-specific mutations and are capable of propagating mutation-induced perturbations between these domains through a combination of structural changes and effector-dependent modulations of dynamics. One key feature of this network is the inclusion of compensatory mutations segregated into three characteristically different clusters, where each cluster residue site is allosterically coupled with specific RBD mutation sites. Notably, each RBD mutation acted like a positive allosteric modulator; nevertheless, K417N was shown to have the largest effects among all of the mutations on the allostery and thereby holds the highest binding affinity with ACE2. This result will be useful for designing the targeted control measure and therapeutic efforts aiming at allosteric modulators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayanta
Kumar Das
- Department
of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, United States
| | - Bikash Thakuri
- Department
of Mathematics, Sikkim University, Gangtok, Sikkim 737102, India
| | - Krishnan MohanKumar
- Department
of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, United States
| | - Swarup Roy
- Department
of Computer Applications, Sikkim University, Gangtok, Sikkim 737102, India
| | - Adnan Sljoka
- RIKEN
Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, RIKEN, 1-4-1 Nihombashi, Chuo-ku Tokyo 103-0027, Japan
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1, Canada
| | - Gui-Quan Sun
- Department
of Mathematics, North University of China, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030051, China
- Complex
Systems Research Center, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030006, China
| | - Amit Chakraborty
- Department
of Mathematics, Sikkim University, Gangtok, Sikkim 737102, India
- , . Phone: +91 9784811895
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20
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Pascarella S, Ciccozzi M, Bianchi M, Benvenuto D, Giovanetti M, Cauda R, Cassone A. Shortening Epitopes to Survive: The Case of SARS-CoV-2 Lambda Variant. Biomolecules 2021; 11:1494. [PMID: 34680128 PMCID: PMC8533401 DOI: 10.3390/biom11101494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2021] [Revised: 10/06/2021] [Accepted: 10/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Among the more recently identified SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Interest (VOI) is the Lambda variant, which emerged in Peru and has rapidly spread to South American regions and the US. This variant remains poorly investigated, particularly regarding the effects of mutations on the thermodynamic parameters affecting the stability of the Spike protein and its Receptor Binding Domain. We report here an in silico study on the potential impact of the Spike protein mutations on the immuno-escape ability of the Lambda variant. Bioinformatics analysis suggests that a combination of shortening the immunogenic epitope loops and the generation of potential N-glycosylation sites may be a viable adaptation strategy, potentially allowing this emerging viral variant to escape from host immunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Pascarella
- Department of Biochemical Sciences “A. Rossi Fanelli”, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185 Rome, Italy;
| | - Massimo Ciccozzi
- Medical Statistic and Molecular Epidemiology Unit, University of Biomedical Campus, 00128 Rome, Italy;
| | - Martina Bianchi
- Department of Biochemical Sciences “A. Rossi Fanelli”, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185 Rome, Italy;
| | - Domenico Benvenuto
- Medical Statistic and Molecular Epidemiology Unit, University of Biomedical Campus, 00128 Rome, Italy;
| | - Marta Giovanetti
- Flavivirus Laboratory, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro 21040-360, Brazil;
| | - Roberto Cauda
- Dipartimento di Sicurezza e Bioetica, Sezione Malattie Infettive, Università Cattolica S. Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy;
| | - Antonio Cassone
- Center of Genomics, Genetics and Biology, 53100 Siena, Italy;
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21
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Zhang Y, Zhao W, Mao Y, Chen Y, Zheng S, Cao W, Zhu J, Hu L, Gong M, Cheng J, Yang H. O-Glycosylation Landscapes of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Proteins. Front Chem 2021; 9:689521. [PMID: 34552909 PMCID: PMC8450404 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2021.689521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2021] [Accepted: 08/24/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The densely glycosylated spike (S) proteins that are highly exposed on the surface of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) facilitate viral attachment, entry, and membrane fusion. We have previously reported all the 22 N-glycosites and site-specific N-glycans in the S protein protomer. Herein, we report the O-glycosylation landscapes of SARS-CoV-2 S proteins, which were characterized through high-resolution mass spectrometry. Following digestion with trypsin and trypsin/Glu-C, and de-N-glycosylation using PNGase F, we determined the GalNAc-type O-glycosylation pattern of S proteins, including O-glycosites and the six most common O-glycans occupying them, via Byonic identification and manual validation. Finally, 255 intact O-glycopeptides composed of 50 peptides sequences and 43 O-glycosites were discovered by higher energy collision-induced dissociation (HCD), and three O-glycosites were confidently identified by electron transfer/higher energy collision-induced dissociation (EThcD) in the insect cell-expressed S protein. Most glycosites were modified by non-sialylated O-glycans such as HexNAc(1) and HexNAc(1)Hex (1). In contrast, in the human cell-expressed S protein S1 subunit, 407 intact O-glycopeptides composed of 34 peptides sequences and 30 O-glycosites were discovered by HCD, and 11 O-glycosites were unambiguously assigned by EThcD. However, the measurement of O-glycosylation occupancy hasn’t been made. Most glycosites were modified by sialylated O-glycans such as HexNAc(1)Hex (1)NeuAc (1) and HexNAc(1)Hex (1)NeuAc (2). Our results reveal that the SARS-CoV-2 S protein is an O-glycoprotein; the O-glycosites and O-glycan compositions vary with the host cell type. These comprehensive O-glycosylation landscapes of the S protein are expected to provide novel insights into the viral binding mechanism and present a strategy for the development of vaccines and targeted drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yong Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, MOH, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, Institutes for Systems Genetics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Wanjun Zhao
- Department of Thyroid Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Yonghong Mao
- Institute of Thoracic Oncology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Yaohui Chen
- Institute of Thoracic Oncology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Shanshan Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, MOH, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, Institutes for Systems Genetics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Wei Cao
- Key Laboratory of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, MOH, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, Institutes for Systems Genetics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Jingqiang Zhu
- Department of Thyroid Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Liqiang Hu
- Key Laboratory of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, MOH, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, Institutes for Systems Genetics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Meng Gong
- Key Laboratory of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, MOH, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, Institutes for Systems Genetics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Jingqiu Cheng
- Key Laboratory of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, MOH, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, Institutes for Systems Genetics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Hao Yang
- Key Laboratory of Transplant Engineering and Immunology, MOH, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, Institutes for Systems Genetics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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22
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Zhong L, Zhu L, Cai ZW. Mass Spectrometry-based Proteomics and Glycoproteomics in COVID-19 Biomarkers Identification: A Mini-review. JOURNAL OF ANALYSIS AND TESTING 2021; 5:298-313. [PMID: 34513131 PMCID: PMC8423835 DOI: 10.1007/s41664-021-00197-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The first corona-pandemic, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused a huge health crisis and incalculable damage worldwide. Knowledge of how to cure the disease is urgently needed. Emerging immune escaping mutants of the virus suggested that it may be potentially persistent in human society as a regular health threat as the flu virus. Therefore, it is imperative to identify appropriate biomarkers to indicate pathological and physiological states, and more importantly, clinic outcomes. Proteins are the performers of life functions, and their abundance and modification status can directly reflect the immune status. Protein glycosylation serves a great impact in modulating protein function. The use of both unmodified and glycosylated proteins as biomarkers has also been proved feasible in the studies of SARS, Zika virus, influenza, etc. In recent years, mass spectrometry-based glycoproteomics, as well as proteomics approaches, advanced significantly due to the evolution of mass spectrometry. We focus on the current development of the mass spectrometry-based strategy for COVID-19 biomarkers' investigation. Potential application of glycoproteomics approaches and challenges in biomarkers identification are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Zhong
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental and Biological Analysis, Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University, 224 Waterloo Road, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Lin Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental and Biological Analysis, Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University, 224 Waterloo Road, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Zong-Wei Cai
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental and Biological Analysis, Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University, 224 Waterloo Road, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, China
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23
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Núñez-Muñoz L, Marcelino-Pérez G, Calderón-Pérez B, Pérez-Saldívar M, Acosta-Virgen K, González-Conchillos H, Vargas-Hernández B, Olivares-Martínez A, Ruiz-Medrano R, Roa-Velázquez D, Morales-Ríos E, Ramos-Flores J, Torres-Franco G, Peláez-González D, Fernández-Hernández J, Espinosa-Cantellano M, Tapia-Sidas D, Ramírez-Pool JA, Padilla-Viveros A, Xoconostle-Cázares B. Recombinant Antigens Based on Non-Glycosylated Regions from RBD SARS-CoV-2 as Potential Vaccine Candidates against COVID-19. Vaccines (Basel) 2021; 9:928. [PMID: 34452053 PMCID: PMC8402574 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines9080928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2021] [Revised: 08/17/2021] [Accepted: 08/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
The Receptor-Binding Domain (RBD) of the Spike (S) protein from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has glycosylation sites which can limit the production of reliable antigens expressed in prokaryotic platforms, due to glycan-mediated evasion of the host immune response. However, protein regions without glycosylated residues capable of inducing neutralizing antibodies could be useful for antigen production in systems that do not carry the glycosylation machinery. To test this hypothesis, the potential antigens NG06 and NG19, located within the non-glycosylated S-RBD region, were selected and expressed in Escherichia coli, purified by FPLC and employed to determine their immunogenic potential through detection of antibodies in serum from immunized rabbits, mice, and COVID-19 patients. IgG antibodies from sera of COVID-19-recovered patients detected the recombinant antigens NG06 and NG19 (A450 nm = 0.80 ± 0.33; 1.13 ± 0.33; and 0.11 ± 0.08 for and negatives controls, respectively). Also, the purified antigens were able to raise polyclonal antibodies in animal models evoking a strong immune response with neutralizing activity in mice model. This research highlights the usefulness of antigens based on the non-N-glycosylated region of RBD from SARS-CoV-2 for candidate vaccine development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leandro Núñez-Muñoz
- Department of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico; (L.N.-M.); (G.M.-P.); (B.C.-P.); (B.V.-H.); (A.O.-M.); (R.R.-M.); (D.T.-S.); (J.A.R.-P.)
| | - Gabriel Marcelino-Pérez
- Department of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico; (L.N.-M.); (G.M.-P.); (B.C.-P.); (B.V.-H.); (A.O.-M.); (R.R.-M.); (D.T.-S.); (J.A.R.-P.)
- Doctoral Program in Nanosciences and Nanotechnology, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico;
| | - Berenice Calderón-Pérez
- Department of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico; (L.N.-M.); (G.M.-P.); (B.C.-P.); (B.V.-H.); (A.O.-M.); (R.R.-M.); (D.T.-S.); (J.A.R.-P.)
| | - Miriam Pérez-Saldívar
- Department of Infectomics and Molecular Pathogenesis, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico; (M.P.-S.); (K.A.-V.); (H.G.-C.); (M.E.-C.)
| | - Karla Acosta-Virgen
- Department of Infectomics and Molecular Pathogenesis, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico; (M.P.-S.); (K.A.-V.); (H.G.-C.); (M.E.-C.)
| | - Hugo González-Conchillos
- Department of Infectomics and Molecular Pathogenesis, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico; (M.P.-S.); (K.A.-V.); (H.G.-C.); (M.E.-C.)
| | - Brenda Vargas-Hernández
- Department of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico; (L.N.-M.); (G.M.-P.); (B.C.-P.); (B.V.-H.); (A.O.-M.); (R.R.-M.); (D.T.-S.); (J.A.R.-P.)
| | - Ana Olivares-Martínez
- Department of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico; (L.N.-M.); (G.M.-P.); (B.C.-P.); (B.V.-H.); (A.O.-M.); (R.R.-M.); (D.T.-S.); (J.A.R.-P.)
| | - Roberto Ruiz-Medrano
- Department of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico; (L.N.-M.); (G.M.-P.); (B.C.-P.); (B.V.-H.); (A.O.-M.); (R.R.-M.); (D.T.-S.); (J.A.R.-P.)
| | - Daniela Roa-Velázquez
- Doctoral Program in Nanosciences and Nanotechnology, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico;
- Department of Biochemistry, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico;
| | - Edgar Morales-Ríos
- Department of Biochemistry, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico;
| | - Jorge Ramos-Flores
- Laboratory Animal Production and Experimentation Unit, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico; (J.R.-F.); (G.T.-F.); (D.P.-G.); (J.F.-H.)
| | - Gustavo Torres-Franco
- Laboratory Animal Production and Experimentation Unit, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico; (J.R.-F.); (G.T.-F.); (D.P.-G.); (J.F.-H.)
| | - Diana Peláez-González
- Laboratory Animal Production and Experimentation Unit, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico; (J.R.-F.); (G.T.-F.); (D.P.-G.); (J.F.-H.)
| | - Jorge Fernández-Hernández
- Laboratory Animal Production and Experimentation Unit, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico; (J.R.-F.); (G.T.-F.); (D.P.-G.); (J.F.-H.)
| | - Martha Espinosa-Cantellano
- Department of Infectomics and Molecular Pathogenesis, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico; (M.P.-S.); (K.A.-V.); (H.G.-C.); (M.E.-C.)
| | - Diana Tapia-Sidas
- Department of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico; (L.N.-M.); (G.M.-P.); (B.C.-P.); (B.V.-H.); (A.O.-M.); (R.R.-M.); (D.T.-S.); (J.A.R.-P.)
| | - José Abrahan Ramírez-Pool
- Department of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico; (L.N.-M.); (G.M.-P.); (B.C.-P.); (B.V.-H.); (A.O.-M.); (R.R.-M.); (D.T.-S.); (J.A.R.-P.)
| | - América Padilla-Viveros
- Transdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Scientific and Technological Development for Society, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico;
| | - Beatriz Xoconostle-Cázares
- Department of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México City 07360, Mexico; (L.N.-M.); (G.M.-P.); (B.C.-P.); (B.V.-H.); (A.O.-M.); (R.R.-M.); (D.T.-S.); (J.A.R.-P.)
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24
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Reis CA, Tauber R, Blanchard V. Glycosylation is a key in SARS-CoV-2 infection. J Mol Med (Berl) 2021; 99:1023-1031. [PMID: 34023935 PMCID: PMC8140746 DOI: 10.1007/s00109-021-02092-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2021] [Revised: 04/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 causes the respiratory syndrome COVID-19 and is responsible for the current pandemic. The S protein of SARS-CoV-2-mediating virus binding to target cells and subsequent viral uptake is extensively glycosylated. Here we focus on how glycosylation of both SARS-CoV-2 and target cells crucially impacts SARS-CoV-2 infection at different levels: (1) virus binding and entry to host cells, with glycosaminoglycans of host cells acting as a necessary co-factor for SARS-CoV-2 infection by interacting with the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein, (2) innate and adaptive immune response where glycosylation plays both a protective role and contributes to immune evasion by masking of viral polypeptide epitopes and may add to the cytokine cascade via non-fucosylated IgG, and (3) therapy and vaccination where a monoclonal antibody-neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 was shown to interact also with a distinct glycan epitope on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. These evidences highlight the importance of ensuring that glycans are considered when tackling this disease, particularly in the development of vaccines, therapeutic strategies and serological testing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Celso A Reis
- i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal
- IPATIMUP - Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology, University of Porto, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal
- Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, University of Porto, 4050-313, Porto, Portugal
| | - Rudolf Tauber
- Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Véronique Blanchard
- Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.
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25
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Kelta Wabalo E, Dukessa Dubiwak A, Welde Senbetu M, Sime Gizaw T. Effect of Genomic and Amino Acid Sequence Mutation on Virulence and Therapeutic Target of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS COV-2). Infect Drug Resist 2021; 14:2187-2192. [PMID: 34163183 PMCID: PMC8214021 DOI: 10.2147/idr.s307374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2021] [Accepted: 05/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). It is one of the RNA coronaviruses which share the highest mutation rates of RNA viruses when compared with that of their hosts. The collective mutation rate of RNA viruses is up to a million times higher than their hosts and is correlated with enhanced virulence of viruses. The RNA, genomic material of SARS-CoV-2, has the capacity of showing amplified fast changes as the infection spreads. These changes were frequently observed in genes for spike glycoprotein, nucleocapsid, ORF1ab, and ORF8, together with RNA dependent RNA polymerase. In contrast, genes for envelope, membrane, ORF6, ORF7a and ORF7b showed no observable changes in terms of amino acid substitutions. Mutated SARS COV-2 at these particular sites has been associated with viral infectivity, false laboratory results and viral genome mutation and interferes with therapeutic targets. Interferences with therapeutic targets is frequently observed in genes for RdRp. Additionally, mutated viral genes for RdRp render slow fidelity of RdRp protein, resulting in a high mutation rate. Such a high mutation rate might allow new virulent forms of the virus to emerge and influence the disease profile. This review aimed to elaborate on the effect of genomic and amino acid sequence mutations on the virulence and therapeutic targets of SARS COV-2. To achieve this objective, multiple literatures have been reviewed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Endriyas Kelta Wabalo
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia
| | - Abebe Dukessa Dubiwak
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia
| | - Mengistu Welde Senbetu
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia
| | - Tariku Sime Gizaw
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia
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26
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Yue J, Jin W, Yang H, Faulkner J, Song X, Qiu H, Teng M, Azadi P, Zhang F, Linhardt RJ, Wang L. Heparan Sulfate Facilitates Spike Protein-Mediated SARS-CoV-2 Host Cell Invasion and Contributes to Increased Infection of SARS-CoV-2 G614 Mutant and in Lung Cancer. Front Mol Biosci 2021; 8:649575. [PMID: 34179075 PMCID: PMC8231436 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.649575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-like coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused by SARS-CoV-2 and has been a serious threat to global public health with limited treatment. Cellular heparan sulfate (HS) has been found to bind SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (SV2-S) and co-operate with cell surface receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) to mediate SARS-CoV-2 infection of host cells. In this study, we determined that host cell surface SV2-S binding depends on and correlates with host cell surface HS expression. This binding is required for SARS-Cov-2 virus to infect host cells and can be blocked by heparin lyase, HS antagonist surfen, heparin, and heparin derivatives. The binding of heparin/HS to SV2-S is mainly determined by its overall sulfation with potential, minor contribution of specific SV2-S binding motifs. The higher binding affinity of SV2-S G614 mutant to heparin and upregulated HS expression may be one of the mechanisms underlying the higher infectivity of the SARS-CoV-2 G614 variant and the high vulnerability of lung cancer patients to SARS-CoV-2 infection, respectively. The higher host cell infection by SARS-CoV-2 G614 variant pseudovirus and the increased infection caused by upregulated HS expression both can be effectively blocked by heparin lyase and heparin, and possibly surfen and heparin derivatives too. Our findings support blocking HS-SV2-S interaction may provide one addition to achieve effective prevention and/treatment of COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingwen Yue
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida Health, Tampa, FL, United States
- Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Weihua Jin
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, United States
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, United States
| | - Hua Yang
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida Health, Tampa, FL, United States
| | - John Faulkner
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida Health, Tampa, FL, United States
| | - Xuehong Song
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida Health, Tampa, FL, United States
| | - Hong Qiu
- Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Michael Teng
- Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States
| | - Parastoo Azadi
- Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Fuming Zhang
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, United States
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, United States
| | - Robert J. Linhardt
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, United States
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, United States
| | - Lianchun Wang
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida Health, Tampa, FL, United States
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27
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Krishnan S, Krishnan GP. N-Glycosylation Network Construction and Analysis to Modify Glycans on the Spike (S) Glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2. FRONTIERS IN BIOINFORMATICS 2021; 1:667012. [PMID: 36303733 PMCID: PMC9581045 DOI: 10.3389/fbinf.2021.667012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2021] [Accepted: 05/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: The N-glycan structure and composition of the spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 are pertinent to vaccine development and efficacy. Methods: We reconstructed the glycosylation network based on previously published mass spectrometry data using GNAT, a glycosylation network analysis tool. Our compilation of the network tool had 26 glycosyltransferase and glucosidase enzymes and could infer the pathway of glycosylation machinery based on glycans in the virus spike protein. Once the glycan biosynthesis pathway was generated, we simulated the effect of blocking specific enzymes—swainsonine or deoxynojirimycin for blocking mannosidase-II and indolizidine for blocking alpha-1,6-fucosyltransferase—to see how they would affect the biosynthesis network and the glycans that were synthesized. Results: The N-glycan biosynthesis network of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein shows an elaborate enzymatic pathway with several intermediate glycans, along with the ones identified by mass spectrometric studies. Of the 26 enzymes, the following were involved—Man-Ia, MGAT1, MGAT2, MGAT4, MGAT5, B3GalT, B4GalT, Man-II, SiaT, ST3GalI, ST3GalVI, and FucT8. Blocking specific enzymes resulted in a substantially modified glycan profile of SARS-CoV-2. Conclusion: Variations in the final N-glycan profile of the virus, given its site-specific microheterogeneity, are factors in the host response to the infection, vaccines, and antibodies. Heterogeneity in the N-glycan profile of the spike (S) protein and its potential effect on vaccine efficacy or adverse reactions to the vaccines remain unexplored. Here, we provide all the resources we generated—the glycans in the glycoCT xml format and the biosynthesis network for future work.
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28
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Li T, Huang T, Guo C, Wang A, Shi X, Mo X, Lu Q, Sun J, Hui T, Tian G, Wang L, Yang J. Genomic variation, origin tracing, and vaccine development of SARS-CoV-2: A systematic review. Innovation (N Y) 2021; 2:100116. [PMID: 33997827 PMCID: PMC8110321 DOI: 10.1016/j.xinn.2021.100116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2020] [Accepted: 04/30/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
COVID-19 has spread globally to over 200 countries with more than 40 million confirmed cases and one million deaths as of November 1, 2020. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, leading to COVID-19, shows extremely high rates of infectivity and replication, and can result in pneumonia, acute respiratory distress, or even mortality. SARS-CoV-2 has been found to continue to rapidly evolve, with several genomic variants emerging in different regions throughout the world. In addition, despite intensive study of the spike protein, its origin, and molecular mechanisms in mediating host invasion are still only partially resolved. Finally, the repertoire of drugs for COVID-19 treatment is still limited, with several candidates still under clinical trial and no effective therapeutic yet reported. Although vaccines based on either DNA/mRNA or protein have been deployed, their efficacy against emerging variants requires ongoing study, with multivalent vaccines supplanting the first-generation vaccines due to their low efficacy against new strains. Here, we provide a systematic review of studies on the epidemiology, immunological pathogenesis, molecular mechanisms, and structural biology, as well as approaches for drug or vaccine development for SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianbao Li
- Genetic Testing Center, Academician Workstation, Changsha Medical University, Changsha 410219, China
- Geneis (Beijing) Co., Ltd, Beijing 100102, China
- Qingdao Geneis Institute of Big Data Mining and Precision Medicine, Qingdao 266000, China
| | - Tao Huang
- Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
| | - Cheng Guo
- Center for Infection and Immunity, School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Ailan Wang
- Geneis (Beijing) Co., Ltd, Beijing 100102, China
- Qingdao Geneis Institute of Big Data Mining and Precision Medicine, Qingdao 266000, China
| | - Xiaoli Shi
- Geneis (Beijing) Co., Ltd, Beijing 100102, China
- Qingdao Geneis Institute of Big Data Mining and Precision Medicine, Qingdao 266000, China
| | - Xiaofei Mo
- Geneis (Beijing) Co., Ltd, Beijing 100102, China
- Qingdao Geneis Institute of Big Data Mining and Precision Medicine, Qingdao 266000, China
| | - Qingqing Lu
- Geneis (Beijing) Co., Ltd, Beijing 100102, China
- Qingdao Geneis Institute of Big Data Mining and Precision Medicine, Qingdao 266000, China
| | - Jing Sun
- Department of Pathology, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Tingting Hui
- Geneis (Beijing) Co., Ltd, Beijing 100102, China
| | - Geng Tian
- Geneis (Beijing) Co., Ltd, Beijing 100102, China
- Qingdao Geneis Institute of Big Data Mining and Precision Medicine, Qingdao 266000, China
| | - Leyi Wang
- Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61802, USA
- Corresponding author
| | - Jialiang Yang
- Genetic Testing Center, Academician Workstation, Changsha Medical University, Changsha 410219, China
- Geneis (Beijing) Co., Ltd, Beijing 100102, China
- Qingdao Geneis Institute of Big Data Mining and Precision Medicine, Qingdao 266000, China
- Corresponding author
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29
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Anderluh M, Berti F, Bzducha-Wróbel A, Chiodo F, Colombo C, Compostella F, Durlik K, Ferhati X, Holmdahl R, Jovanovic D, Kaca W, Lay L, Marinovic-Cincovic M, Marradi M, Ozil M, Polito L, Reina JJ, Reis CA, Sackstein R, Silipo A, Švajger U, Vaněk O, Yamamoto F, Richichi B, van Vliet SJ. Recent advances on smart glycoconjugate vaccines in infections and cancer. FEBS J 2021; 289:4251-4303. [PMID: 33934527 PMCID: PMC9542079 DOI: 10.1111/febs.15909] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2020] [Revised: 04/09/2021] [Accepted: 04/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Vaccination is one of the greatest achievements in biomedical research preventing death and morbidity in many infectious diseases through the induction of pathogen-specific humoral and cellular immune responses. Currently, no effective vaccines are available for pathogens with a highly variable antigenic load, such as the human immunodeficiency virus or to induce cellular T-cell immunity in the fight against cancer. The recent SARS-CoV-2 outbreak has reinforced the relevance of designing smart therapeutic vaccine modalities to ensure public health. Indeed, academic and private companies have ongoing joint efforts to develop novel vaccine prototypes for this virus. Many pathogens are covered by a dense glycan-coat, which form an attractive target for vaccine development. Moreover, many tumor types are characterized by altered glycosylation profiles that are known as "tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens". Unfortunately, glycans do not provoke a vigorous immune response and generally serve as T-cell-independent antigens, not eliciting protective immunoglobulin G responses nor inducing immunological memory. A close and continuous crosstalk between glycochemists and glycoimmunologists is essential for the successful development of efficient immune modulators. It is clear that this is a key point for the discovery of novel approaches, which could significantly improve our understanding of the immune system. In this review, we discuss the latest advancements in development of vaccines against glycan epitopes to gain selective immune responses and to provide an overview on the role of different immunogenic constructs in improving glycovaccine efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marko Anderluh
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Chair of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | | | - Anna Bzducha-Wróbel
- Department of Biotechnology and Food Microbiology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, Warszawa, Poland
| | - Fabrizio Chiodo
- Department of Molecular Cell Biology and Immunology, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam Infection and Immunity Institute, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry (ICB), Italian National Research Council (CNR), Pozzuoli, Italy
| | - Cinzia Colombo
- Department of Chemistry and CRC Materiali Polimerici (LaMPo), University of Milan, Italy
| | - Federica Compostella
- Department of Medical Biotechnology and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, Milano, Italy
| | - Katarzyna Durlik
- Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce, Poland
| | - Xhenti Ferhati
- Department of Chemistry 'Ugo Schiff', University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Rikard Holmdahl
- Division of Medical Inflammation Research, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Dragana Jovanovic
- Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences - National Institute of thе Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Wieslaw Kaca
- Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce, Poland
| | - Luigi Lay
- Department of Chemistry and CRC Materiali Polimerici (LaMPo), University of Milan, Italy
| | - Milena Marinovic-Cincovic
- Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences - National Institute of thе Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Marco Marradi
- Department of Chemistry 'Ugo Schiff', University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Musa Ozil
- Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize, Turkey
| | - Laura Polito
- National Research Council, CNR-SCITEC, Milan, Italy
| | - Josè Juan Reina
- Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidad de Málaga-IBIMA, Spain.,Andalusian Centre for Nanomedicine and Biotechnology-BIONAND, Parque Tecnológico de Andalucía, Málaga, Spain
| | - Celso A Reis
- I3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Portugal.,IPATIMUP-Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology, University of Porto, Portugal.,Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, University of Porto, Portugal
| | - Robert Sackstein
- Department of Translational Medicine, Translational Glycobiology Institute, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Alba Silipo
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Complesso Universitario Monte Sant'Angelo, Napoli, Italy
| | - Urban Švajger
- Blood Transfusion Center of Slovenia, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Ondřej Vaněk
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Fumiichiro Yamamoto
- Immunohematology & Glycobiology Laboratory, Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute, Badalona, Spain
| | - Barbara Richichi
- Department of Chemistry 'Ugo Schiff', University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Sandra J van Vliet
- Department of Molecular Cell Biology and Immunology, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam Infection and Immunity Institute, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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30
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Montoya V, McLaughlin A, Mordecai GJ, Miller RL, Joy JB. Variable routes to genomic and host adaptation among coronaviruses. J Evol Biol 2021; 34:924-936. [PMID: 33751699 PMCID: PMC8242483 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2020] [Revised: 01/19/2021] [Accepted: 01/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Natural selection operating on the genomes of viral pathogens in different host species strongly contributes to adaptation facilitating host colonization. Here, we analyse, quantify and compare viral adaptation in genomic sequence data derived from seven zoonotic events in the Coronaviridae family among primary, intermediate and human hosts. Rates of nonsynonymous (dN) and synonymous (dS) changes on specific amino acid positions were quantified for each open reading frame (ORF). Purifying selection accounted for 77% of all sites under selection. Diversifying selection was most frequently observed in viruses infecting the primary hosts of each virus and predominantly occurred in the orf1ab genomic region. Within all four intermediate hosts, diversifying selection on the spike gene was observed either solitarily or in combination with orf1ab and other genes. Consistent with previous evidence, pervasive diversifying selection on coronavirus spike genes corroborates the role this protein plays in host cellular entry, adaptation to new hosts and evasion of host cellular immune responses. Structural modelling of spike proteins identified a significantly higher proportion of sites for SARS‐CoV‐2 under positive selection in close proximity to sites of glycosylation relative to the other coronaviruses. Among human coronaviruses, there was a significant inverse correlation between the number of sites under positive selection and the estimated years since the virus was introduced into the human population. Abundant diversifying selection observed in SARS‐CoV‐2 suggests the virus remains in the adaptive phase of the host switch, typical of recent host switches. A mechanistic understanding of where, when and how genomic adaptation occurs in coronaviruses following a host shift is crucial for vaccine design, public health responses and predicting future pandemics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincent Montoya
- British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Angela McLaughlin
- British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Bioinformatics Programme, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Gideon J Mordecai
- Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Rachel L Miller
- British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Bioinformatics Programme, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Jeffrey B Joy
- British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Bioinformatics Programme, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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31
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Doulberis M, Papaefthymiou A, Kotronis G, Gialamprinou D, Soteriades ES, Kyriakopoulos A, Chatzimichael E, Kafafyllidou K, Liatsos C, Chatzistefanou I, Anagnostis P, Semenin V, Ntona S, Gkolia I, Papazoglou DD, Tsinonis N, Papamichos S, Kirbas H, Zikos P, Niafas D, Kountouras J. Does COVID-19 Vaccination Warrant the Classical Principle " ofelein i mi vlaptin"? MEDICINA (KAUNAS, LITHUANIA) 2021; 57:253. [PMID: 33803295 PMCID: PMC7999356 DOI: 10.3390/medicina57030253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2021] [Revised: 02/26/2021] [Accepted: 03/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
The current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic warrants an imperative necessity for effective and safe vaccination, to restrain Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) including transmissibility, morbidity, and mortality. In this regard, intensive medical and biological research leading to the development of an arsenal of vaccines, albeit incomplete preconditioned evaluation, due to emergency. The subsequent scientific gap raises some concerns in the medical community and the general public. More specifically, the accelerated vaccine development downgraded the value of necessary pre-clinical studies to elicit medium- and long-term beneficial or harmful consequences. Previous experience and pathophysiological background of coronaviruses' infections and vaccine technologies, combined with the global vaccines' application, underlined the obligation of a cautious and qualitative approach, to illuminate potential vaccination-related adverse events. Moreover, the high SARS-CoV-2 mutation potential and the already aggregated genetical alterations provoke a rational vagueness and uncertainty concerning vaccines' efficacy against dominant strains and the respective clinical immunity. This review critically summarizes existing evidence and queries regarding SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, to motivate scientists' and clinicians' interest for an optimal, individualized, and holistic management of this unprecedented pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Doulberis
- Second Medical Clinic, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Ippokration Hospital, 54652 Thessaloniki, Greece; (M.D.); (A.P.); (S.P.)
| | - Apostolis Papaefthymiou
- Second Medical Clinic, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Ippokration Hospital, 54652 Thessaloniki, Greece; (M.D.); (A.P.); (S.P.)
- Department of Gastroenterology, University Hospital of Larisa, Mezourlo, 41110 Larisa, Greece
| | - Georgios Kotronis
- Department of Internal Medicine, General Hospital Aghios Pavlos of Thessaloniki, 55134 Thessaloniki, Greece;
| | - Dimitra Gialamprinou
- Second Neonatal Department and NICU, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Papageorgiou General Hospital, 56403 Thessaloniki, Greece;
| | - Elpidoforos S. Soteriades
- Healthcare Management Program, School of Economics and Management, Open University of Cyprus, Nicosia 2252, Cyprus;
- Department of Environmental Health, Environmental and Occupational Medicine and Epidemiology (EOME), Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Anthony Kyriakopoulos
- Nasco AD Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Research and Development, 18536 Piraeus, Greece;
| | - Eleftherios Chatzimichael
- Center for Integrative Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric University Hospital of Zurich, University of Zurich, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland;
| | - Kyriaki Kafafyllidou
- Department of Pediatrics, University Children’s Hospital of Zurich, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland;
| | - Christos Liatsos
- Department of Gastroenterology, 401 Army General Hospital of Athens, 11525 Athens, Greece;
| | - Ioannis Chatzistefanou
- Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, 424 General Military Hospital, Ring Road Efkarpia, 56429 Thessaloniki, Greece;
| | - Paul Anagnostis
- ORL and Psychiatry Private Practice, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland;
| | - Vitalii Semenin
- Neurology and Psychiatry Private Practice, 2502 Biel, Switzerland;
| | - Smaragda Ntona
- Alexandrovska University Hospital, Medical University Sofia, 1431 Sofia, Bulgaria;
| | - Ioanna Gkolia
- Psychiatric Hospital of Thessaloniki, Stavroupolis, 56429 Thessaloniki, Greece;
| | - Dimitrios David Papazoglou
- Department of General, Visceral and Thoracic Surgery, Bürgerspital Solothurn, 4500 Solothurn, Switzerland;
| | | | - Spyros Papamichos
- Second Medical Clinic, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Ippokration Hospital, 54652 Thessaloniki, Greece; (M.D.); (A.P.); (S.P.)
| | - Hristos Kirbas
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, “Thegeneio” Cancer Hospital, 54007 Thessaloniki, Greece;
| | - Petros Zikos
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54642 Thessaloniki, Greece;
| | | | - Jannis Kountouras
- Second Medical Clinic, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Ippokration Hospital, 54652 Thessaloniki, Greece; (M.D.); (A.P.); (S.P.)
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Sinegubova MV, Orlova NA, Kovnir SV, Dayanova LK, Vorobiev II. High-level expression of the monomeric SARS-CoV-2 S protein RBD 320-537 in stably transfected CHO cells by the EEF1A1-based plasmid vector. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0242890. [PMID: 33529230 PMCID: PMC7853477 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2020] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The spike (S) protein is one of the three proteins forming the coronaviruses' viral envelope. The S protein of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has a spatial structure similar to the S proteins of other mammalian coronaviruses, except for a unique receptor-binding domain (RBD), which is a significant inducer of host immune response. Recombinant SARS-CoV-2 RBD is widely used as a highly specific minimal antigen for serological tests. Correct exposure of antigenic determinants has a significant impact on the accuracy of such tests-the antigen has to be correctly folded, contain no potentially antigenic non-vertebrate glycans, and, preferably, should have a glycosylation pattern similar to the native S protein. Based on the previously developed p1.1 vector, containing the regulatory sequences of the Eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1 alpha gene (EEF1A1) from Chinese hamster, we created two expression constructs encoding SARS-CoV-2 RBD with C-terminal c-myc and polyhistidine tags. RBDv1 contained a native viral signal peptide, RBDv2 -human tPA signal peptide. We transfected a CHO DG44 cell line, selected stably transfected cells, and performed a few rounds of methotrexate-driven amplification of the genetic cassette in the genome. For the RBDv2 variant, a high-yield clonal producer cell line was obtained. We developed a simple purification scheme that consistently yielded up to 30 mg of RBD protein per liter of the simple shake flask cell culture. Purified proteins were analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in reducing and non-reducing conditions and gel filtration; for RBDv2 protein, the monomeric form content exceeded 90% for several series. Deglycosylation with PNGase F and mass spectrometry confirmed the presence of N-glycosylation. The antigen produced by the described technique is suitable for serological tests and subunit vaccine studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria V. Sinegubova
- Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Bioengineering, Institute of Bioengineering, Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Nadezhda A. Orlova
- Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Bioengineering, Institute of Bioengineering, Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
- * E-mail:
| | - Sergey V. Kovnir
- Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Bioengineering, Institute of Bioengineering, Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Lutsia K. Dayanova
- Laboratory of Glycoproteins Biotechnology, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Ivan I. Vorobiev
- Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Bioengineering, Institute of Bioengineering, Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
- Laboratory of Glycoproteins Biotechnology, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
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