A unique view of SARS-CoV-2 through the lens of ORF8 protein

Sk. Sarif Hassan; Alaa A. A. Aljabali; Pritam Kumar Panda; Shinjini Ghosh; Diksha Attrish; Pabitra Pal Choudhury; Murat Seyran; Damiano Pizzol; Parise Adadi; Tarek Mohamed Abd El‐Aziz; Antonio Garcia Soares; Ramesh J. L. Kandimalla; Kenneth H. Lundstrom; Amos Lal; Gajendra Kumar Azad; Vladimir Nikolaevich Uversky; Samendra P. Sherchan; Wagner Baetas‐da‐Cruz; Bruce D. Uhal; Nima Rezaei; Gaurav Chauhan; Debmalya Barh; Elrashdy M Moustafa Mohamed Redwan; Guy W. Dayhoff; Nicolas Guillermo Bazan; Ángel Serrano‐Aroca; Amr El‐Demerdash; Yogendra Kumar Mishra; Giorgio Palù; Kazuo Takayama

doi:10.1016/j.compbiomed.2021.104380

Molecular BiologyComputers in Biology and MedicineApr 15, 2021

Peer-reviewed journal article

A unique view of SARS-CoV-2 through the lens of ORF8 protein

Sk. Sarif Hassan iD, Alaa A. A. Aljabali iD, Pritam Kumar Panda iD, Shinjini Ghosh iD, Diksha Attrish iD, Pabitra Pal Choudhury iD, Murat Seyran, Damiano Pizzol iD, Parise Adadi iD, Tarek Mohamed Abd El‐Aziz iD, Antonio Garcia Soares iD, Ramesh J. L. Kandimalla iD, Kenneth H. Lundstrom iD, Amos Lal iD, Gajendra Kumar Azad iD, Vladimir Nikolaevich Uversky iD, Samendra P. Sherchan iD, Wagner Baetas‐da‐Cruz iD, Bruce D. Uhal iD, Nima Rezaei iD, Gaurav Chauhan iD, Debmalya Barh iD, Elrashdy M Moustafa Mohamed Redwan iD, Guy W. Dayhoff iD, Nicolas Guillermo Bazan iD, , Murtaza M. Tambuwala iD

Abstract

Immune evasion is one of the unique characteristics of COVID-19 attributed to the ORF8 protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This protein is involved in modulating the host adaptive immunity through downregulating MHC (Major Histocompatibility Complex) molecules and innate immune responses by surpassing the interferon mediated antiviral response of the host. To understand the immune perspective of the host with respect to the ORF8 protein, a comprehensive study of the ORF8 protein as well as mutations possessed by it, is performed. Chemical and structural properties of ORF8 proteins from different hosts, that is human, bat and pangolin, suggests that the ORF8 of SARS-CoV-2 and Bat RaTG13-CoV are very much closer related than that of Pangolin-CoV. Eighty-seven mutations across unique variants of ORF8 (SARS-CoV-2) are grouped into four classes based on their predicted effects. Based on geolocations and timescale of collection, a possible flow of mutations was built. Furthermore, conclusive flows of amalgamation of mutations were endorsed upon sequence similarity and amino acid conservation phylogenies. Therefore, this study seeks to highlight the uniqueness of rapid evolving SARS-CoV-2 through the ORF8.

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