Molecular basis of COVID-19 relationships in different species: a one health perspective

Abstract

a b s t r a c tOutside the Hubei province, China, the mild form of infection and the progressive recover of the COVID-19 patients suggest the intervention of "unconventional" biological mechanisms worthy of attention. Based on the high-homology between the Spike protein epitopes of taxonomically-related coronaviruses, we hypothesized that past contact with infected dogs shield humans against the circulating SARS-CoV-2. Elseways, the recurrent virus exposure over a short time-lapse might result in the Antibody Dependent Enhancement, triggering the violent immune reaction responsible for the severe clinical outcomes observed in the Hubei province. Nevertheless, further experimental studies are desired for a confidential evaluation of the postulated hypotheses.

Comparative computational analysis of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein epitopes in taxonomically related coronaviruses

“…Moreover, acknowledged the overall co-share of epitope sequences, the lack of epitope alignments might be of importance for an accurate With regard to epitopes distribution across viruses with tropism for synanthropic and/or domestic animals, the survey highlights that some epitope sequences are more "conserved" among the most related specimens, while other epitopes are shared among a wider ensemble of coronaviruses. Similar outcomes were also described for the spike proteins epitopes [20]. In this view, a detailed description of the epitopes distribution over the viral population might provide valuable information driving future researches aimed at setting efficient prophylactic strategies and/or the design of tool capable of differential diagnosis on the basis of serological tests.…”

Covid-19: Pandemonium in our time

“…If this result is confirmed in larger trials, quarantine times could be significantly reduced, improving the social perspective of this pandemic. Another novel hypothesis from Italy (Tilocca et al, 2020) suggests that close contact with domestic animals, such as dogs and bovines that are often infected by different but taxonomically related coronaviruses, could possibly shield humans against the SARS-CoV-2 due to the high homology between the spike protein epitopes of all coronaviruses. However, the research team in question also theorizes that this similarity could play a more sinister role during rapid, recurrent virus exposures triggering an Antibody-Dependent Enhancement (ADE) reaction associated with a severe clinical picture.…”

Sequence analysis of SARS-CoV-2 genome reveals features important for vaccine design

“…We have conducted a thorough analysis of the codon, codon pair and dinucleotide usage of the SARS-CoV-2 and have assessed how it relates to other coronaviruses, its hosts, and to the tissues that SARS-CoV-2 has been reported to infect [21][22][23]. We have taken advantage of our recently published databases, which include genomic codon usage statistics for all species with available sequence data, and transcriptomic codon usage statistics from several human tissues [4,5,24].…”