Viruses, Vol. 12, Pages 1095: Host Immune Response Driving SARS-CoV-2 Evolution

Viruses, Vol. 12, Pages 1095: Host Immune Response Driving SARS-CoV-2 Evolution Viruses doi: 10.3390/v12101095 Authors: Rui Wang Yuta Hozumi Yong-Hui Zheng Changchuan Yin Guo-Wei Wei The transmission and evolution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are of paramount importance in controlling and combating the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Currently, over 15,000 SARS-CoV-2 single mutations have been recorded, which have a great impact on the development of diagnostics, vaccines, antibody therapies, and drugs. However, little is known about SARS-CoV-2’s evolutionary characteristics and general trend. In this work, we present a comprehensive genotyping analysis of existing SARS-CoV-2 mutations. We reveal that host immune response via APOBEC and ADAR gene editing gives rise to near 65% of recorded mutations. Additionally, we show that children under age five and the elderly may be at high risk from COVID-19 because of their overreaction to the viral infection. Moreover, we uncover that populations of Oceania and Africa react significantly more intensively to SARS-CoV-2 infection than those of Europe and Asia, which may explain why African Americans were shown to be at increased risk of dying from COVID-19, in addition to their high risk of COVID-19 infection caused by systemic health and social inequities. Finally, our study indicates that for two viral genome sequences of the same origin, their evolution o...
Source: Viruses - Category: Virology Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research