IIT-M studying reason behind transmission rate of SARS-CoV-2

Researchers at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) are studying the high transmission rate and mortality of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

Using computational tools, the team studied its two close variants - SARS-CoV and NL63 – to understand how the spike proteins of these different virus strains are interacting with the ACE2 receptors of human cells and how this interaction is affecting their transmission potential and severity of the disease.

The scientists set out to find the reason behind the mildness and severity of disease caused by these viruses. From the previous studies, it was realised that all three viruses gain entry to the human cell via ACE2 receptors which are present on human cells.

Using various computational tools, the team found that the interaction area between spike protein and ACE2, surrounding hydrophobicity and interaction energy play a key role in deciding the severity and transmission potential of coronaviruses, the IIT-M said in a press release.

The team also found that the distant cousin NL63 has unique ACE2 binding sites compared to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2.