SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Convergent Evolution: Impact of Virus Variants on Efficacy of COVID-19 Therapeutics and Vaccines (SpringerBriefs in Microbiology)

This book reviews the current knowledge of the globally circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants, highlights their distinct genetic characteristics and associated conformational changes in the viral spike protein, and profoundly discusses the mechanisms of convergent evolution that led to the rise of these mutated strains at different geographic regions during the Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the book explores how these variants do and may impact the efficacy of established neutralizing antibody-based (nAb) vaccines and therapeutics by analysing latest in vivo and in vitro clinical data. Finally, the author discusses ways on how nAb Covid-19 treatment derived immune escape of SARS-CoV-2 could be minimized in the future. About This Book 8 Contents 9 Abbreviations 11 1 Why the Spike Protein is Relevant for COVID-19 Therapeutics 12 2 Whole Genome Mutation Rates 19 3 Phylogenetic Systems 21 4 Mechanism of Immune Escape: Single Nucleotide Mutations, Insertion/Deletions and Recombination 32 5 Spike Protein Mutations Detected in Currently Circulating Strains 35 6 SARS-CoV-2 Variants 63 6.1 B.1.1.298 63 6.2 B.1.1.7 (Alpha) 64 6.3 B.1.351 (Beta) 67 6.4 B.1.1.28- and B.1.1.33-Derived Brazilian Variants (Including Gamma and Zeta) 69 6.5 B.1.525 (Eta) 72 6.6 B.1.526 (Iota) 73 6.7 B.1.427/B.1.429 (Epsilon) 73 6.8 B.1.617-Derived Variants (Including Kappa and Delta) 73 6.9 C.37 (Lambda) 75 6.10 P.3 (Theta) 76 6.11 Other Variants Under Monitoring (VUM) 76 7 Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 Variants 80 8 Predicting the Functional Consequences of Mutations 82 9 Efficacy of Anti-Spike Vaccines and Monoclonal Antibodies Against SARS-CoV-2 Variants 83 10 Selective Pressures Exerted by Antibody-Based Therapeutics 98 11 Which Strain Will Finally Become Dominant? 102 12 Conclusions 105 References 107