Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35042962›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2022

Two short low complexity regions (LCRs) are hallmark sequences of the Delta SARS-CoV-2 variant spike protein.

Arturo Becerra, Israel Muñoz-Velasco, Abelardo Aguilar-Cámara, Wolfgang Cottom-Salas, Adrián Cruz-González, Alberto Vázquez-Salazar, Ricardo Hernández-Morales, Rodrigo Jácome, José Alberto Campillo-Balderas, Antonio Lazcano

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 45% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Arturo BecerraFacultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico.
Israel Muñoz-VelascoFacultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico.
Abelardo Aguilar-CámaraFacultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico.
Wolfgang Cottom-SalasFacultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico.
Adrián Cruz-GonzálezFacultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico.
Alberto Vázquez-SalazarDepartment of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Ricardo Hernández-MoralesFacultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico.
Rodrigo JácomeFacultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico.
José Alberto Campillo-BalderasFacultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico.
Antonio LazcanoFacultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico. alar@ciencias.unam.mx.
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México · MXNational College · MXUniversity of California, Los Angeles · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Low complexity regions (LCRs) are protein sequences formed by a set of compositionally biased residues. LCRs are extremely abundant in cellular proteins and have also been reported in viruses, where they may partake in evasion of the host immune system. Analyses of 28,231 SARS-CoV-2 whole proteomes and of 261,051 spike protein sequences revealed the presence of four extremely conserved LCRs in the spike protein of several SARS-CoV-2 variants. With the exception of Iota, where it is absent, the Spike LCR-1 is present in the signal peptide of 80.57% of the Delta variant sequences, and in other variants of concern and interest. The Spike LCR-2 is highly prevalent (79.87%) in Iota. Two distinctive LCRs are present in the Delta spike protein. The Delta Spike LCR-3 is present in 99.19% of the analyzed sequences, and the Delta Spike LCR-4 in 98.3% of the same set of proteins. These two LCRs are located in the furin cleavage site and HR1 domain, respectively, and may be considered hallmark traits of the Delta variant. The presence of the medically-important point mutations P681R and D950N in these LCRs, combined with the ubiquity of these regions in the highly contagious Delta variant opens the possibility that they may play a role in its rapid spread.

Indexed as

Mutation, MissenseAmino Acid SubstitutionCOVID-19HumansProteomeSARS-CoV-2Spike Glycoprotein, CoronavirusProteomeSpike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus

Identifiers

PMID35042962
PMCPMC8766472
OpenAlexW4226019178

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.