Stability of Envelope Proteins of SARS-CoV-2 Variants Could Be a Choice of New Drug Target

Ambreen Shafaat Khan; Bennet Angel; Annette Angel; Vinod Joshi; Shareef BM; Poorna Khaneja; Bhawna Sharma; Nuzhat Maqbool Peer; Neha Singh; Shilpa Barthwal; Satendra Pal Singh; Ramesh Joshi; Rajesh Thakur; Monika Dheer; Khusbhu Kumari; Aarya Chitransh; Reshu Chauhan; Lalmalsawmi Sailo

doi:10.52756/ijerr.2024.v42.010

Ambreen Shafaat Khan Centre of Excellence in Virology & Immunology, Sharda University, Greater Noida, U.P., India-201310 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3538-0942
Bennet Angel Centre of Excellence in Virology & Immunology, Sharda University, Greater Noida, U.P., India-201310 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9149-6974
Annette Angel Centre of Excellence in Virology & Immunology, Sharda University, Greater Noida, U.P., India-201310 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4253-103X
Vinod Joshi Centre of Excellence in Virology & Immunology, Sharda University, Greater Noida, U.P., India-201310 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6599-5481
Shareef BM Centre of Excellence in Virology & Immunology, Sharda University, Greater Noida, U.P., India-201310 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1503-1881
Poorna Khaneja Centre of Excellence in Virology & Immunology, Sharda University, Greater Noida, U.P., India-201310 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4991-4853
Bhawna Sharma Centre of Excellence in Virology & Immunology, Sharda University, Greater Noida, U.P., India-201310 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4427-7047
Nuzhat Maqbool Peer Centre of Excellence in Virology & Immunology, Sharda University, Greater Noida, U.P., India-201310 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5409-2110
Neha Singh Centre of Excellence in Virology & Immunology, Sharda University, Greater Noida, U.P., India-201310 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1770-080X
Shilpa Barthwal Centre of Excellence in Virology & Immunology, Sharda University, Greater Noida, U.P., India-201310 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3711-4584
Satendra Pal Singh Sharda School of Medical Sciences & Research, Sharda Hospital, Greater Noida, U.P., India-201310 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3491-6709
Ramesh Joshi Dept of Life Sciences, Sharda School of Basic Sciences& Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida, U.P., India-201310 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5775-5282
Rajesh Thakur Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences, Saifai, Etawah, U.P., India-206130 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5227-1855
Monika Dheer Centre of Excellence in Virology & Immunology, Sharda University, Greater Noida, U.P., India-201310 https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9733-9559
Khusbhu Kumari Centre of Excellence in Virology & Immunology, Sharda University, Greater Noida, U.P., India-201310 https://orcid.org/0009-0007-0191-1470
Aarya Chitransh Centre of Excellence in Virology & Immunology, Sharda University, Greater Noida, U.P., India-201310 https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6367-0532
Reshu Chauhan Centre of Excellence in Virology & Immunology, Sharda University, Greater Noida, U.P., India-201310 https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4190-2655
Lalmalsawmi Sailo Centre of Excellence in Virology & Immunology, Sharda University, Greater Noida, U.P., India-201310 https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8714-5455

DOI: https://doi.org/10.52756/ijerr.2024.v42.010

Keywords: COVID-19, Drug, Envelope protein, SARS-COV-2, Virus, Transmission

Abstract

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has emerged as one of the worst viral pandemics during the past few years. As reported by the World Health Organization, around 77,56 49 520 cases and 70 51 720 deaths were reported from all over the world, which includes approximately 3500 patients reported during the recent past only. Currently, circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2 are KP.3, JN.1, BA.2.86 and KP.2. Mass vaccinations have been provided since the end of December 2020, which led to 5.47 billion people vaccinated till date. However, the disease continues in small foci all over the world. Development of an effective drug target and mutation independent vaccine thus becomes essential research priorities. Owing to the unavailability of a specific drug molecule, the present study has focused on the development of an effective drug target to treat COVID-19. In-house primers were designed for four essential structural genes viz., Spike protein, ORF1ab, Nucleocapsid gene, and Envelope gene. Samples of different waves were amplified using these primers employing the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay. A total number of 86 SARS-CoV-2 RT PCR positive samples were studied, and results showed the most frequent appearance (80.2%) of Envelope (E) protein in all the samples. This suggests that during transmission across numbers of human hosts, it is the Envelope protein that was the most stable one. The most severe Delta variant showed the presence of E proteins in all the samples assayed. Blocking E protein as a new drug target to intervene intracellular replication of virus could be an effective drug development strategy.

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