In Silico Protein Folding Prediction of COVID-19 Mutations and Variants

With its fast-paced mutagenesis, the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant has threatened many societies worldwide. Strategies for predicting mutagenesis such as the computational prediction of SARS-CoV-2 structural diversity and its interaction with the human receptor will greatly benefit our understanding of the virus and help develop therapeutics against it. We aim to use protein structure prediction algorithms along with molecular docking to study the effects of various mutations in the Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 and its key interactions with the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) receptor. The RBD structures of the naturally occurring variants of SARS-CoV-2 were generated from the WUHAN-Hu-1 using the trRosetta algorithm. Docking (HADDOCK) and binding analysis (PRODIGY) between the predicted RBD sequences and ACE-2 highlighted key interactions at the Receptor-Binding Motif (RBM). Further mutagenesis at conserved residues in the Original, Delta, and Omicron variants (P499S and T500R) demonstrated stronger binding and interactions with the ACE-2 receptor. The predicted T500R mutation underwent some preliminary tests in vitro for its binding and transmissibility in cells; the results correlate with the in-silico analysis. In summary, we suggest conserved residues P499 and T500 as potential mutation sites that could increase the binding affinity and yet do not exist in nature. This work demonstrates the use of the trRosetta algorithm to predict protein structure and future mutations at the RBM of SARS-CoV-2, followed by experimental testing for further efficacy verification. It is important to understand the protein structure and folding to help develop potential therapeutics.