Supercomputer Shows Why New Coronavirus Variants Are More Contagious And Deadly

All viruses mutate as they copy themselves in order to spread. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is not

became an exception. There are now more than 4,000 variants of COVID-19, which has already killed more than 2.7 million people worldwide during the pandemic.

British variant, also known as B.1.1.7, first discovered in September 2020 and now causing 98% of all COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom. It has also spread to about 100 other countries, including France, Denmark and the United States.

The World Health Organization saysthat B.1.1.7 is one of several options of concern, along with others, in South Africa and Brazil. “Variants of the virus in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil are more infectious and easier to get rid of immunity than the original virus,” explains Victor Padilla-Sanchez, a research fellow at the Catholic University of America. "We need to understand why they are more infectious and in many cases more deadly."

All three variants have undergone changes in their spike protein - the part of the virus that attaches to human cells. As a result, they better infect cells and spread.

In a research article for the journal ResearchIdeas and Outcomes Padilla-Sánchez discusses the UK and South African variants in detail. He presents a computational analysis of the structure of the ACE2 receptor-associated spike glycoprotein that has mutated. His paper outlines the reason why these variants bind better to human cells.

“I analyzed the recently published structurespike SARS-CoV-2, bound to the ACE2 receptor, and found out why new variants are more transmissible6, he said. "These results were obtained using UC San Francisco's Chimera software and molecular dynamics simulations using the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) Frontera supercomputer."

Padilla-Sanchez discovered that the British varianthas many mutations in the spike glycoprotein. But most important is one mutation, N501Y, in the receptor-binding domain that interacts with the ACE2 receptor.

“The N501Y mutation provides much higherbinding efficiency, which in turn makes the virus more infectious. This option is dominated by the United Kingdom and is spreading to other countries around the world, ”he said.

South African variant of coronavirus appeared inOctober 2020 and has more important changes in the spiked squirrel. This makes it more dangerous than the British version. It includes the key mutation E484K. It helps the virus evade antibodies and parts of the immune system that might fight the coronavirus, based on the experience of a previous infection or vaccine. As a result, the body cannot fight the virus.

Padilla-Sánchez conducted a structural analysis by examiningcrystal structure of the virus. According to him, current vaccines will not necessarily be effective against the British and South African variants. “They will require their own vaccines. We will need as many vaccines as there are variants,” the scientist concludes.

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