Mutational Hotspot in the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein N-Terminal Domain Conferring Immune Escape Potential.

ABSTRACT: Global efforts are being made to monitor the evolution of SARS-CoV-2, aiming for early identification of genotypes providing increased infectivity or virulence. However, viral lineage-focused tracking might fail in early detection of advantageous mutations emerging independently across phylogenies. Here, the emergence patterns of Spike mutations were investigated in sequences deposited in local and global databases to identify mutational hotspots across phylogenies and we evaluated their impact on SARS-CoV-2 evolution. We found a striking increase in the frequency of recruitment of diverse substitutions at a critical residue (W152), positioned in the N-terminal domain (NTD) of the Spike protein, observed repeatedly across independent phylogenetic and geographical contexts. These mutations

SUBMITTER: Kubik S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8618472 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature