The Progression of SARS Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2): Mutation in the Receptor Binding Domain of Spike Gene

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) is a positive-sense singlestranded RNA (+ssRNA) that causes coronavirus disease 2019 . The viral genome encodes twelve genes for viral replication and infection. The third open reading frame is the spike (S) gene that encodes for the spike glycoprotein interacting with specific cell surface receptor -angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) -on the host cell membrane. Most recent studies identified a single point mutation in S gene. A single point mutation in S gene leading to an amino acid substitution at codon 614 from an aspartic acid 614 into glycine (D614G) resulted in greater infectivity compared to the wild type SARS-CoV2. We were interested in investigating the mutation region of S gene of SARS-CoV2 from Korean COVID-19 patients. New mutation sites were found in the critical receptor binding domain (RBD) of S gene, which is adjacent to the aforementioned D614G mutation residue. This specific sequence data demonstrated the active progression of SARS-CoV2 by mutations in the RBD of S gene. The sequence information of new mutations is critical to the development of recombinant SARS-CoV2 spike antigens, which may be required to improve and advance the strategy against a wide range of possible SARS-CoV2 mutations.

Identification and analysis of novel variants in SARS-COV-2 genomes isolated from the Kingdom of Bahrain

“…E484K mutation on the spike protein causes SARS-CoV 2 escape from the neutralizing effect of the human immune systems mediated by antibody (Mahase 2021). On the other hand, D614G mutation on the spike protein has high infectivity in human cells having ACE2 receptors (Ogawa et al 2020, Kim et al 2020). D614G mutation situated exactly at the receptor binding domain of the spike protein.…”

Structure of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Glycoprotein for Therapeutic and Preventive Target

“…Our previous study found four mutation sites in Korean COVID-19 patients ( 75 76 ). The physiographic map demonstrated three new mutation sites, G504D, V524D, P759L are indicated by blue letters, as well as the aforenamed D614G is characterized by red letters in Fig.…”

“…These mutations may prove that SARS-CoV was originated from an animal reservoir and adapted to human hosts. Overall, 22 different point mutation sites in RBD showed including additional 14 mutaion sites in other domains in Table 1 ( 74 ), but those mutations are not overlapped with three new mutations in Korean COVID-19 patients ( 75 76 ). A report from the US showed 14 mutations in the S glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2.…”

“…1C . The D614G strain showed high infectivity compared to the wild type ( 77 ) while the new Korean strain with four mutation sites is under investigation ( 75 76 ). Korean COVID-19 samples were obtained in the middle of April 2020.…”

“…REGENERON entered the clinical trial with 2 mAbs in the United Kingdom developed from humanized mice and recovering patients of SARS-CoV-2, which are also targeting the RBD ( 97 ). In recent reports, a single amino acid mutation G614 in SD2 of SARS-CoV-2 is more dominant than the original D614 virus, which shows enhanced infectivity in vitro and in vivo ( 75 76 ).…”