Mutation-Induced Changes in the Stability, B-Cell Epitope, and Antigenicity of the Sars-Cov-2 Variant Spike Protein: A Comparative Computational Stud

The spike (S) protein is a major antigenicity site that targets neutralizing antibodies and drugs. growing number of S mutations has become severe problem for developing effective vaccines. Here, we investigated four acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants were the most infectious widespread during COVID-19 pandemic to determine trends patterns mutation-induced changes in stability, B-cell epitope, SARS-CoV-2 protein. data showed Beta Gamma had three on receptor-binding domain (RBD), which specific angiotensin-converting enzyme (hACE2) binding. Delta variant only two mutations, whereas Omicron 15 RBD. results stability varied depended mutation type are stable analyzed. protein–hACE2 complexes relatively after 20 ns simulation compared with those variants. We predicted epitopes mutant would be different from wildtype. Moreover, changed drastically other Bioinformatics analysis molecular dynamic revealed affected A large do not always stabilize Mutations significantly altered epitope antigenicity, decreased vaccine effectiveness. These findings provide insights into evolution development.