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But what can justify the speed with which the new strain spread through the UK and then to Belgium, Gibraltar, Denmark, Australia, the Netherlands, Italy and South Africa? The place where the mutations occurred, explained Isabel Gordo, leader of the evolutionary biology group at the Gulbenkian Institute of Sciences. Three of the seventeen mutations of this new variant took place in protein S, the key that the virus uses to enter our cells.
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“The virus may have acquired a greater evolutionary potential”, with a greater affinity between the S protein and the ACE-2 receptor, on the surface of cells, the scientist described. “When the virus adheres better to cells, the viral load may also be higher, increasing transmissibility.“He continued. It was different than what happened with the D614G mutation: the frequency increased, but over a longer period of time than this combination of changes.
According to Miguel Castanho, biochemist and researcher at the Institute of Molecular Medicine, “there is even talk of how it will have arrived” at a virus with this abnormal number of mutations: “It is an accumulation of several mutations, a strange and unusual conjunction “admits the scientist. But it is the very nature of the changes that raises even more questions, as they appear to give the virus a greater advantage.
Despite being chemically tenuous, changes can have pronounced effects if they occur at critical points. The degree of structural changes in the virus depends on how disparate the new amino acid is, which will replace what was already incorporated into the genetic material. As the mutations found in the new variant become pronounced, this changes the way the S protein changes.
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Now, Protein S is precisely the target of vaccines that are currently being used distributed worldwide or approved by health authorities. Contrary to what other experts have claimed, Miguel Castanho believes that the mutations identified at this time may even have an impact on the efficacy of the vaccine.
“I would say that it is very difficult that there is no degree of impact,” said the biochemist. MRNA vaccines introduce a piece of genetic information into the body that causes cells to make protein S. The goal is for the immune system to learn to identify it as an invader and to gain immunity against it. However, the immune system’s memory is against specific parts of the protein, not the entire structure.
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