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From Alpha to Lambda mutants, the evolution of the new crown virus has been revealed!

 Last Update: 2021-09-03
 Source: Internet
 Author: User

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Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the new crown virus has achieved several rounds of "global travel", and the mutation process has been very rapid
.

What is the next evolutionary direction of the new coronavirus? How should we break the game?

Source: Zhihu

First, let's review the past and present lives of several major mutant strains:

Alpha mutant strain: It was first discovered in the United Kingdom in September last year, and it spread rapidly at the end of last year and became a major epidemic strain in the world in April this year
.
Beta variant: It first appeared in South Africa in May last year.
Compared with other variants, its presence is low
.
Gamma mutant strain: appeared in Brazil in November last year and became the main epidemic strain in South America
.
Delta mutant strain: It first appeared in India in October last year and is currently the most important epidemic strain globally and in China
.
Lambda mutant strain: It was first discovered in Peru in August last year and is currently growing strongly
.

Alpha mutant strain: It was first discovered in the United Kingdom in September last year, and it spread rapidly at the end of last year and became a major epidemic strain in the world in April this year
.

Alpha variants:

Beta variant: It first appeared in South Africa in May last year.
Compared with other variants, its presence is low
.

Beta variants:

Gamma mutant strain: appeared in Brazil in November last year and became the main epidemic strain in South America
.

Gamma variant:

Delta mutant strain: It first appeared in India in October last year and is currently the most important epidemic strain globally and in China
.

Delta variants:

Lambda mutant strain: It was first discovered in Peru in August last year and is currently growing strongly
.

Lambda variants:

A mutant strain of the new coronavirus
.

doi: 10.

A mutant strain of the new coronavirus

The characteristics of these main variants are also different
.

The mutation of the Alpha mutant strain makes it easier to bind to the receptors on the target cell surface, which greatly increases infectivity
.

Studies have found that it is about 50% more infectious than the original strain

It is about 50% more infectious than the original strain

The outstanding feature of the Beta and Gamma strains is their ability to escape immunity
.

In other words, these two strains can lead to reduced vaccine efficacy, difficult drug treatment, and re-infection of previously infected people

The outstanding feature of the Beta and Gamma strains is their ability to escape immunity

The Delta and Lambda strains have the characteristics of "double mutations", as well as high infectivity and immune escape capabilities
.

Among them, the Delta strain is about 60% more infectious than the Alpha strain.

Source: CDC

At the beginning of the pandemic, the global immunization rate was very low .
At this time, the main problem facing the new coronavirus was not to avoid immune attacks, but how to spread faster.
Therefore, the main epidemic strains at that time were mainly high-transmissive
.

The global immunization rate is very low but how to spread faster, therefore, the main epidemic strains at that time were mainly high transmission power
.

With the popularity of vaccines and the abundance of treatments, the main difficulty faced by the virus has become how to evade the human immune system.
At this time, the advantages of the Beta and Gamma strains are highlighted
.

The main difficulty faced by the virus has become how to evade the human immune system.
At this time, the advantages of the Beta and Gamma strains are highlighted
.

But evading immunity means changing the key components of its disease, such as S protein
.

This change will weaken the ability to bind to human cells, so they are not as infectious as Alpha

S protein structure
.

Source: Zhihu

S protein structure
.
Source: Zhihu

In India and Peru, the vaccination rate is unsatisfactory and sanitary conditions are poor
.
This environment has caused the virus to face a certain degree of immune pressure, but the pressure is not huge, and it also has the opportunity to spread widely, so the double-mutant "poison king" Delta and Lambda gradually become popular
.

Double mutation is a leap forward of viral mutation
.
In medically backward areas, vaccines have not only not become a tool to kill the virus, but have become an accomplice of virus training
.
Insufficient vaccination rates allow the virus to have enough time to accumulate beneficial mutations in the population, or multiple mutant strains are infected at the same time, and new offspring are produced, which have both immune escape and high transmission ability
.

It has both immune escape and high transmission ability
.

But how can it effectively bypass our immune defense system while remaining infectious? In the past, we believed that viruses entering cells are like opening a lock with a key.
The mutation of the key can evade the monitoring system, but it will also reduce the success rate of unlocking
.
Coronavirus is different.
Existing evidence has shown that it can use multiple keys to open the same lock!

It can use multiple keys to open the same lock!

Source: Weibo

It can be seen that the coronavirus is a virus with strong mutation adaptability
.
With the widespread popularity of vaccines, it is foreseeable that "evasion of immunity" will be the main direction of the future evolution of the new coronavirus, and its importance even exceeds the transmission capacity
.

"Evasion of immunity" will be the main direction of the future evolution of the new coronavirus, and its importance even exceeds the transmission capacity
.

Since the virus will produce stronger anti-immune variants, what is the point of vaccination?

First, the vaccine can produce a polyclonal response
.
Vaccines do not produce one type of antibody, but multiple antibodies
.

When the protective effect of one type of antibody is reduced due to virus mutation, the effect of the other antibody may appear
.

The vaccines of Pfizer and Moderna have produced a large number of antibodies against the SARS virus in the human body, and the difference between SARS virus and the new coronavirus is far greater than the difference between the variant strains
.
This strongly shows that the humoral immunity induced by the new crown vaccine is broad-spectrum
.

This strongly shows that the humoral immunity induced by the new crown vaccine is broad-spectrum
.

Source: NetEase

Secondly, antibody-mediated humoral immunity is only part of the role of vaccines, and more importantly, vaccines can activate cellular immunity
.

Antibody-mediated humoral immunity is only part of the role of vaccines, and more importantly, vaccines can activate cellular immunity
.

The academic community believes that the coronavirus has the ability to break through the antibody barrier, but it is almost impossible to break through the T cell barrier, unless it is directly parasitized in T cells like HIV
.

So the key is how long the cellular immunity can be maintained after vaccination
.
In fact, the persistence of cellular immunity is often higher than that of humoral immunity
.
The study found that 7 months after the new coronavirus infection, the antibody immune response decreased, but the T cell immunity continued
.
People who were infected with the SARS virus nearly 20 years ago still have T cells that recognize the virus!

In fact, the persistence of cellular immunity is often higher than that of humoral immunity
.
The study found that 7 months after the new coronavirus infection, the antibody immune response decreased, but the T cell immunity continued
.
People who were infected with the SARS virus nearly 20 years ago still have T cells that recognize the virus!

T cell immunity persists
.
doi: 10.
1002/cti2.
1319.
eCollection 2021.

However, the current evaluation of vaccine effects is still limited to the level of humoral immunity
.
As Academician Zhong Nanshan said, how vaccines can function through cellular immunity is a very important research topic in the future
.
This is crucial to the development of a vaccine that can more effectively activate cellular immunity, and it is also our magic weapon for breaking the game
.

But no matter how the vaccine works, the basis is universal vaccination
.
In a society with insufficient vaccination rates, those who have not been vaccinated become the mutation reservoirs of the virus, and those who have been vaccinated will become a training ground for trial and error of virus mutations, which will make the vaccine "helping the abuser".
The Delta mutant strain is a lesson for the past
.
Only by universal vaccination can the virus not have enough time to complete its evolution
.

Those who have not been vaccinated become a mutation repository of the virus, and those who have been vaccinated will become a training ground for trial and error of virus mutations, which will make the vaccine "helpful to abuse".
The Delta mutant strain is a lesson for the past
.
Only by universal vaccination can the virus not have enough time to complete its evolution
.

Although further mutation of the virus may be inevitable, vaccines are still our most effective weapon.
We should be vigilant against new variants, but there is no need to be pessimistic
.

references

1.
Amalio Telenti, et al.
After the pandemic: perspectives on the future trajectory of COVID-19 .
Nature.
2021.
doi: 10.
1038/s41586-021-03792-w.

1.
Amalio Telenti, et al.
After the pandemic: perspectives on the future trajectory of COVID-19 .
Nature.
2021.
doi: 10.
1038/s41586-021-03792-w.
COVID-19

2.
Anthony T DiPiazza, et al.
T cell immunity to SARS-CoV-2 following natural infection and vaccination.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun.
2021.
doi: 10.
1016/j.
bbrc.
2020.
10.
060.

2.
Anthony T DiPiazza, et al.
T cell immunity to SARS-CoV-2 following natural infection and vaccination.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun.
2021.
doi: 10.
1016/j.
bbrc.
2020.
10.
060.
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