SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 Spike variants bind human ACE2 with increased affinity

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Abstract

SARS-CoV2 being highly infectious has been particularly effective in causing widespread infection globally and more variants of SARS-CoV2 are constantly being reported with increased genomic surveillance. In particular, the focus is on mutations of Spike protein, which binds human ACE2 protein enabling SARS-CoV2 entry and infection. Here we present a rapid experimental method leveraging the speed and flexibility of Mircoscale Thermopheresis (MST) to characterize the interaction between Spike Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) and human ACE2 protein. The B.1.351 variant harboring three mutations, (E484K, N501Y, and K417N) binds the ACE2 at nearly five-fold greater affinity than the original SARS-COV-2 RBD. We also find that the B.1.1.7 variant, binds two-fold more tightly to ACE2 than the SARS-COV-2 RBD.

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  1. SciScore for 10.1101/2021.02.22.432359: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Cell Line Authenticationnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Experimental Models: Cell Lines
    SentencesResources
    Briefly, 100 uL of 200nM Spike RBD (Hu-1 or B.1.1.7 or B. 1.351 RBD) was mixed with 100 uL of 100nM dye for 30 minutes at room temperature, followed by centrifugation for 10 minutes at 15000g at 4C.
    Hu-1
    suggested: None

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).


    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.


    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.


    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.


    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.