Relationship of Covid-19 Severity with SARS-CoV-2 NS8 Protein Mutations Depending on Virus Strain

Abstract

In mid-2021, the Delta strain of SARS-CoV-2 caused the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Huge efforts have been devoted to studying the effect of its mutations on the effectiveness of neutralizing antibodies. Much less attention was paid to the individual features of the presentation of its peptides by molecules of the major histocompatibility complex class I (MCHC-I). In this study, the correlation of the HLA-I genotype of patients under the age of 60 years with the severity of COVID-19 caused by the two most common variants of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta strain in the summer of 2021: AY.122 and B.1.617.2 was studied. Analysis of the severity of the course of COVID-19 revealed a more severe course of the disease caused by the AY.122 variant. Comparison of the mutation profile of the two most common variants of the Delta strain showed that that the G8R mutation in the NS8 protein makes the greatest contribution to the ability of MHC-I to present viral peptides. Given that the NS8 protein is able to suppress the maturation of MHC-I molecules, the appearance of a mutation in one of its immunogenic epitopes could make a significant contribution to the prevalence of the AY.122 variant in the Russian population.