Dynamics of binding ability prediction between spike protein and human ACE2 reveals the adaptive strategy of SARS-CoV-2 in humans

Xue, Xia; Shi, Jianxiang; Xu, Hongen; Qin, Yaping; Yang, Zengguang; Feng, Shuaisheng; Liu, Danhua; Jian, Liguo; Hua, Linlin; Wang, Yaohe; Zhang, Qi; Huang, Xueyong; Zhang, Xiaoju; Li, Xinxin; Chen, Chunguang; Guo, Jiancheng; Tang, Wenxue; Liu, Jianbo

SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) is a novel coronavirus causing the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. High adaptive plasticity on the spike protein of SASR-CoV-2 enables it to transmit across different host species. In the present study, we collected 2092 high-quality genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 from 160 regions in over 50 countries and reconstructed their phylogeny. We also analyzed the polymorphic interaction between spike protein and human ACE2 (hACE2). Phylogenetic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 suggests that SARS-CoV-2 is probably originated from a recombination event on the spike protein between a bat coronavirus and a pangolin coronavirus that endows it humans infectivity. Compared with other regions in the S gene of SARS-CoV-2, the direct-binding sites of the receptor-binding domain (RBD) is more conserved. We focused on 3,860 amino acid mutations in spike protein RBD (T333-C525) of SARS-CoV-2 and simulated their differential stability and binding affinity to hACE2 (S19-D615). The results indicate no preference for SARS-CoV-2 infectivity on people of different ethnic groups. The variants in the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 may also be a good indicator demonstrating the transmission route of SARS-CoV-2 from its natural reservoir to human hosts.