Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Apr 25;10(9):e30208.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30208. eCollection 2024 May 15.

Mutational dynamics of SARS-CoV-2: Impact on future COVID-19 vaccine strategies

Niloofar Faraji  1 , Tahereh Zeinali  1 , Farahnaz Joukar  1 , Maryam Sadat Aleali  1 , Narges Eslami  1 , Mohammad Shenagari  1   2 , Fariborz Mansour-Ghanaei  1
Affiliations
Review

Mutational dynamics of SARS-CoV-2: Impact on future COVID-19 vaccine strategies

Niloofar Faraji et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

The rapid emergence of multiple strains of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has sparked profound concerns regarding the ongoing evolution of the virus and its potential impact on global health. Classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as variants of concern (VOC), these strains exhibit heightened transmissibility and pathogenicity, posing significant challenges to existing vaccine strategies. Despite widespread vaccination efforts, the continual evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants presents a formidable obstacle to achieving herd immunity. Of particular concern is the coronavirus spike (S) protein, a pivotal viral surface protein crucial for host cell entry and infectivity. Mutations within the S protein have been shown to enhance transmissibility and confer resistance to antibody-mediated neutralization, undermining the efficacy of traditional vaccine platforms. Moreover, the S protein undergoes rapid molecular evolution under selective immune pressure, leading to the emergence of diverse variants with distinct mutation profiles. This review underscores the urgent need for vigilance and adaptation in vaccine development efforts to combat the evolving landscape of SARS-CoV-2 mutations and ensure the long-term effectiveness of global immunization campaigns.

Keywords: Evolutionary adaptation; Immune escape; SARS-CoV-2 mutations; Spike protein; Vaccine efficacy; Variant of concern (VOC).

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The genomic structure of SARS-CoV-2, highlighting mutations found in various variants. The SARS-CoV-2 genome spans about 30,000 base pairs (bp) and includes ORFs (open reading frames) and structural elements, each serving specific functions. Notably, the S protein plays a crucial role in attaching to and entering host cells. It is noteworthy that SARS-CoV-2 variants exhibit numerous mutations resulting in changes to amino acids, particularly in the receptor binding domain and the S1/S2 subunit of the S protein. Research has shown that these alterations enhance the virus's transmissibility.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The phylodynamics of the pandemic coronavirus worldwide: (A) A time-stamped maximum likelihood phylogeny depicting a representative subset of 4255 complete genomes of SARS-CoV-2 sampled from December 2019 to March 2024 from the GISAID database. Variants of concern (VOCs) are highlighted using various color schemes. This visualization was created by Nextstrain using data sourced from GISAID. (B) The distribution frequencies of VOCs across the globe are indicated using distinct color schemes. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Sharma A., Lal S.K. Is tetherin a true antiviral: the influenza a virus controversy. Rev. Med. Virol. 2019;29 doi: 10.1002/rmv.2036. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wang M.Y., Zhao R., Gao L.J., Gao X.F., Wang D.P., Cao J.M. SARS-CoV-2: structure, Biology, and structure-based therapeutics development. Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol. 2020;10 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Singh J., Pandit P., McArthur A.G., Banerjee A., Mossman K. Evolutionary trajectory of SARS-CoV-2 and emerging variants. Virol. J. 2021;18:166. doi: 10.1186/s12985-021-01633-w. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Woo P.C.Y., Huang Y., Lau S.K.P., Yuen K.Y. Coronavirus genomics and bioinformatics analysis. Viruses. 2010;2:1804–1820. doi: 10.3390/v2081803. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Vijgen L., Lemey P., Keyaerts E., Van Ranst M. Genetic variability of human respiratory coronavirus OC43. J. Virol. 2005;79:3223–3225. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources