Vaccine-escape and fast-growing mutations in the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, Spain, India, and other COVID-19-devastated countries.

ABSTRACT: Recently, the SARS-CoV-2 variants from the United Kingdom (UK), South Africa, and Brazil have received much attention for their increased infectivity, potentially high virulence, and possible threats to existing vaccines and antibody therapies. The question remains if there are other more infectious variants transmitted around the world. We carry out a large-scale study of 506,768 SARS-CoV-2 genome isolates from patients to identify many other rapidly growing mutations on the spike (S) protein receptor-binding domain (RBD). We reveal that essentially all 100 most observed mutations strengthen the binding between the RBD and the host angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), indicating the virus evolves toward more infectious variants. In particular, we discover new fast-growing RBD mutations

SUBMITTER: Wang R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8123493 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature