SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Mutations and Escape from Antibodies: A Computational Model of Epitope Loss in Variants of Concern.

ABSTRACT: The SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein is exposed on the viral surface and is the first point of contact between the virus and the host. For these reasons it represents the prime target for Covid-19 vaccines. In recent months, variants of this protein have started to emerge. Their ability to reduce or evade recognition by S-targeting antibodies poses a threat to immunological treatments and raises concerns for their consequences on vaccine efficacy. To develop a model able to predict the potential impact of S-protein mutations on antibody binding sites, we performed unbiased multi-microsecond molecular dynamics of several glycosylated S-protein variants and applied a straightforward structure-dynamics-energy based strategy to predict potential changes in immunogenic regions on each variant. We r

SUBMITTER: Triveri A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8479857 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature