Seasonal Coronavirusesâ Spike Proteins Evolve to Evade Immune Responses
3D print of a spike protein of SARS-CoV-2âalso known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19âin front of a 3D print of a SARS-CoV-2 virus particle. The spike protein (foreground) enables the virus to enter and infect human cells. On the virus model, the virus surface (blue) is covered with spike proteins (red) that enable the virus to enter and infect human cells. [NIH]
January 20, 2021
The appearance of SARS-CoV-2 variants has permeated the news since the beginning of the year. Viruses mutate, so new variants are not surprising. But the phenotypes associated with those changes could potentially be a cause of concern; particularly if they impact immune memory or vaccine efficacy. Now, scientists address the influence of antigenic drift (slow mutational changes over time) on immune evasion of seasonal coronaviruses. In doing so, they show that two seasonal human coronaviruses undergo adapti
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Scientists have shown that two species of seasonal human coronavirus related to SARS-CoV-2 can evolve in certain proteins to escape recognition by the immune system, according to a study published today in
eLife.
The findings suggest that, if SARS-CoV-2 evolves in the same way, current vaccines against the virus may become outdated, requiring new ones to be made to match future strains.
When a person is infected by a virus or vaccinated against it, immune cells in their body will produce antibodies that can recognise and bind to unique proteins on the virus surface known as antigens. The immune system relies on being able to remember the antigens that relate to a specific virus in order to provide immunity against it. However, in some viruses, such as the seasonal flu, those antigens are likely to change and evolve in a process called antigenic drift, meaning the immune system may no longer respond to reinfection.