Roshdy Wael H, Kandeil Ahmed, El-Shesheny Rabeh, Khalifa Mohamed K, Al-Karmalawy Ahmed A, Showky Shymaa, Naguib Amel, Elguindy Nancy, Fahim Manal, Abu Elsood Hanaa, El Taweel Ahmed, Salamony Azza, Mohsen Amira, Kayali Ghazi, Ali Mohamed A, Kandeel Amr
Central Public Health Laboratory, Ministry of Health and Population, Cairo 11613, Egypt.
Center of Scientific Excellence for Influenza Viruses, National Research Centre, Giza 12622, Egypt.
Pathogens. 2022 Jul 26;11(8):834. doi: 10.3390/pathogens11080834.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first detected in Egypt in February 2020. Data about the prevalence rates of the SARS-CoV-2 lineages are relatively scarce. To understand the genetic characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 in Egypt during several waves of the pandemic, we analyzed sequences of 1256 Egyptian SARS-CoV-2 full genomes from March 2020 to May 2021. From one wave to the next, dominant strains have been observed to be replaced by other dominant strains. We detected an emerging lineage of SARS-CoV-2 in Egypt that shares mutations with the variant of concern (VOC). The neutralizing capacity of sera collected from cases infected with C.36.3 against dominant strains detected in Egypt showed a higher cross reactivity of sera with C.36.3 compared to other strains. Using in silico tools, mutations in the spike of SARS-CoV-2 induced a difference in binding affinity to the viral receptor. The C.36 lineage is the most dominant SARS-CoV-2 lineage in Egypt, and the heterotrophic antigenicity of SARS-CoV-2 variants is asymmetric. These results highlight the value of genetic and antigenic analyses of circulating strains in regions where published sequences are limited.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）于2020年2月在埃及首次被检测到。关于SARS-CoV-2谱系流行率的数据相对较少。为了解疫情几波期间埃及SARS-CoV-2的基因特征，我们分析了2020年3月至2021年5月期间1256个埃及SARS-CoV-2全基因组的序列。从一波疫情到下一波疫情，观察到优势毒株被其他优势毒株所取代。我们在埃及检测到一种新出现的SARS-CoV-2谱系，它与关注变异株（VOC）存在共同突变。从感染C.36.3的病例中收集的血清对在埃及检测到的优势毒株的中和能力显示，与其他毒株相比，血清与C.36.3的交叉反应性更高。使用计算机工具，SARS-CoV-2刺突蛋白中的突变导致其与病毒受体的结合亲和力存在差异。C.36谱系是埃及最主要的SARS-CoV-2谱系，SARS-CoV-2变异株的异源抗原性是不对称的。这些结果凸显了在已发表序列有限的地区对流行毒株进行基因和抗原分析的价值。
