The epsilon variant of the coronavirus may be more resistant to antibodies

Emerging in California and still not very widespread in Europe, epsilon appears to be more resistant to antibodies, even those induced by the vaccine. Fundamentals of Sequencing and Tracking

Photo: Fusion Medical Animation | Unsplash If delta, at the moment, is the variant of Sars-Cov-2 that raises the most concern, from California one emerges that must be kept under control: B.1.427 / B.1.429, called epsilon, according to the classification of the Organization World Health Organization (WHO). Currently still not very widespread in Europe, the variant has three mutations in the Spike protein, which would make it more resistant to antibodies, both those deriving from messenger RNA vaccination and those generated as a result of infection with the coronavirus. This is what emerges from the study conducted by researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle, led by biochemist Matthew McCallum: the results were published in the journal Science.

The two strains of Sars-Cov-2 named B.1.427 and B.1.429, both identified in California, in the United States, between the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, are part of the epsilon variant. The variant has three different mutations within the spike glycoprotein, the "access key" that allows Sars-Cov-2 to penetrate human cells, as well as targets for vaccines and other experimental therapies against Covid-19, such as antibodies monoclonal. Precisely because the Spike protein plays a fundamental role in regulating immunity against the coronavirus, the researchers wanted to ascertain the possible changes induced by Epsilon, and how it could impact the future epidemiological situation.

What the study says

The study, in vitro, quantified the neutralization activity of human plasma of patients vaccinated or recovering from an infection of the original Sars-Cov- strain 2, against the epsilon variant. The antibodies against the spike protein should induce, in the presence of the coronavirus, the phenomenon of neutralization, that is the physical block by the antibodies of the transmission of the virus in the cells: when it occurs, this phenomenon is a good index of protection against infection of the virus.

The research was based on the plasma analysis of 57 samples, deriving from 15 people vaccinated with two doses of Moderna, 33 vaccinated with two doses of Pfizer-BioNtech and from 9 convalescents following COVID-19. The data on antibody neutralization indicate, with the epsilon variant, a decrease equal to 2-3.5 times compared to the original coronavirus infection. This would indicate greater resistance by epsilon both to antibodies generated by messenger RNA vaccines and to those generated by Sars-CoV-2 infection.

Sequencing is important

According to Gisaid database, which tracks the spread of the different variants of Sars-Cov-2 in the world, epsilon in the last four weeks has spread from the United States to other 44 countries. In Europe there are less than 100 cases, of which two in Italy. On 1 July 2021, the WHO and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Ecdc) still designate epsilon among the "variants of interest", ie those variants for which data are available that could significantly affect the transmissibility of the virus, the severity of the disease or the effects on immunity, with a realistic impact on the epidemiological situation.

Evidence which, however, with respect to "variants of concern", such as the delta variant, is preliminary and to be ascertained, along with continuous tracking of the genetic sequences of spreading coronaviruses. "Understanding the new immune evasion mechanism of emerging variants - write the authors of the study - is as important as monitoring the sequence itself, to successfully counter the ongoing pandemic".


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Topics

Coronavirus Health Coronavirus vaccine Sars-Cov-2 variants globalData.fldTopic = "Coronavirus, Health, Coronavirus vaccine, Sars-Cov-2 variants "

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