Affiliations 

  • 1 State Public Health Laboratory, Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, DMS Campus, Teynampet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600 006, India
  • 2 Department of Microbiology, Centre for Infectious Diseases, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600 077, India
  • 3 Laboratory Center, Xiamen University Malaysia, 43900, Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 4 Department of Microbiology, Government Theni Medical College and Hospital, Theni, 625 512, India
  • 5 Department of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, 620 024, India
  • 6 School of Health Sciences and Technology, UPES, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248 007, India
  • 7 Center for Infectious Diseases, Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 602 105, India
  • 8 Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, 610 005, India
  • 9 Blood and Vascular Biology, Department of Biotechnology, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, 610 005, India
  • 10 Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Division of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory National Primate Research Center, Emory Vaccine Center, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA
  • 11 School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Xiamen University Malaysia, 43900, Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 12 Kelip-kelip! Center of Excellence for Light Enabling Technologies, Xiamen University Malaysia, 43900, Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 13 Division of Molecular Medicine and Virology, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, 58 185, Linköping, Sweden
  • 14 Department of Research, Meenakshi Academy of Higher Education and Research (MAHER), Chennai, 600 078, India
  • 15 Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68131, USA
  • 16 Infection and Inflammation, Department of Biotechnology, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, 610 005, India. shankarem@cutn.ac.in
  • 17 State Public Health Laboratory, Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, DMS Campus, Teynampet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600 006, India. sivraju@gmail.com
Sci Rep, 2024 Jul 30;14(1):17476.
PMID: 39080396 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-68678-z

Abstract

In December 2023, we observed a notable shift in the COVID-19 landscape, when JN.1 omicron emerged as the predominant SARS-CoV-2 variant with a 95% incidence. We characterized the clinical profile, and genetic changes in JN.1, an emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant of interest. Whole genome sequencing was performed on SARS-CoV-2 positive clinical specimens, followed by sequence analysis. Mutations within the spike protein sequences were analysed and compared with the previously reported lineages and sub-lineages, to identify the potential impact of the unique mutations on protein structure and possible alterations in the functionality. Several unique and dynamic mutations were identified herein. Molecular docking analysis showed changes in the binding affinity, and key interacting residues of wild-type and mutated structures with key host cell receptors of SARS-CoV-2 entry viz., ACE2, CD147, CD209L and AXL. Our data provides key insights on the emergence of newer variants and highlights the necessity for robust and sustained global genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Similar publications