SAR-CoV-2 infection, emerging new variants and the role of activation induced cytidine deaminase (AID) in lasting immunity

As the world faces a fourth COVID-19 spike, scientists are learning a lot more about the new SARS-CoV-2 strains that were previously unknown. Currently, the Delta versions of SARS-CoV-2 have become the prevalent strains in much of the world since it first appeared in India in late 2020. Researchers believe they have discovered why Delta has been so successful: those infected with it create significantly more virus than those infected with the original strain of SARS-CoV-2, making it extremely contagious. This has redirected the focus to how our immune system defends us from these various pathogens and initiates such varied responses. Hundreds of research papers have been published on the origins of long-lasting immune responses and disparities in the numbers of different immune cell types in COVID 19 survivors, but the primary architect of these discrepancies has yet to be discovered. In this essay, we will concen-trate on the primary architect protein, activation induced cytidine deaminase (AID), which triggers molecular processes that allow our immune system to produce powerful antibodies and SARS-CoV-2 specific B cells, allowing us to outwit the virus. We believe that if we ever achieve permanent immunity to SARS-CoV-2 infection, AID will be the key to releasing it. (c) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

As the world grapples with a fourth wave of COVID-19, scientists have focused on understanding the success of the Delta variant, which is believed to be highly contagious due to the significantly higher virus production in infected individuals. Research has been published on the origins of immune responses and disparities in immune cell types among COVID-19 survivors, with the primary factor behind these differences yet to be discovered. The essay highlights the role of the AID protein in triggering molecular processes for the production of powerful antibodies and specific B cells to combat SARS-CoV-2, suggesting it may hold the key to achieving long-lasting immunity.