In silico Analysis of Spike Protein Glycoprotein A of Omicron variant and identification of variant specific peptide based Vaccine

Abstract

COVID 19 hit the year 2019 and created havoc in the society. It has shown an extensive resistance by evolution resulting in several variants. One such variant Omicron was identified in late December 2021. Studies revealed that these variants are part of the natural phenomenon of the virus’s mutational evolution. These mutations caused genetic variation which can be considered as one of the reasons for failed efficacy of previous vaccines, thus, making it a vital concept of studying the genetics of these viral strains and their inter strain variations. The first objective of the current study is to identify the sequence variations among the initial SARS corona virus identified and the omicron variant targeting the Spike Glycoprotein A. These spike proteins are known to be the major reason for the viral evolution and strain variation. The regions of variation and conservation in the protein sequences are to be identified followed by their antigenicity detection. The second objective is to identify a potential peptide vaccine against the omicron variant of SARS Corona virus. Identification of regions with high antigenicity can be useful in synthesizing a peptide vaccine which can be used for immunization of a healthy individual against the specific variant.