SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance identifies naturally occurring truncation of ORF7a that limits immune suppression
Artem Nemudryi, Anna Nemudraia, Tanner Wiegand, Joseph Nichols, Deann T. Snyder, Jodi F. Hedges, Calvin Cicha, Helen Lee, Karl K. Vanderwood, Diane Bimczok, Mark A. Jutila, Blake Wiedenheft
Abstract
) to a growth defect. ORF7a is implicated in immune modulation, and we show that the C-terminal truncation negates anti-immune activities of the protein, which results in elevated type I interferon response to the viral infection. Collectively, this work indicates that ORF7a mutations occur frequently, and that these changes affect viral mechanisms responsible for suppressing the immune response.
Topics & Concepts
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)BiologyComputational biologyImmune systemCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)Virology2019-20 coronavirus outbreakImmune surveillanceTruncation (statistics)GeneticsMedicineComputer scienceOutbreakInfectious disease (medical specialty)DiseasePathologyMachine learningSARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 ResearchAnimal Virus Infections StudiesCOVID-19 Clinical Research Studies