A Study on the Nature of SARS-CoV-2 Using the Shell Disorder Models: Reproducibility, Evolution, Spread, and Attenuation

The basic tenets of the shell disorder model (SDM) as applied to COVID-19 are that the harder outer shell of the virus shell (lower PID—percentage of intrinsic disorder—of the membrane protein M, PID(M)) and higher flexibility of the inner shell (higher PID of the nucleocapsid protein N, PID(N)) are correlated with the contagiousness and virulence, respectively. M protects the virion from the anti-microbial enzymes in the saliva and mucus. N disorder is associated with the rapid replication of the virus. SDM predictions are supported by two experimental observations. The first observation demonstrated lesser and greater presence of the Omicron particles in the lungs and bronchial tissues, respectively, as there is a greater level of mucus in the bronchi. The other observation revealed that there are lower viral loads in 2017-pangolin-CoV, which is predicted to have similarly low PID(N) as Omicron. The abnormally hard M, which is very rarely seen in coronaviruses, arose from the fecal–oral behaviors of pangolins via exposure to buried feces. Pangolins provide an environment for coronavirus (CoV) attenuation, which is seen in Omicron. Phylogenetic study using M shows that COVID-19-related bat-CoVs from Laos and Omicron are clustered in close proximity to pangolin-CoVs, which suggests the recurrence of interspecies transmissions. Hard M may have implications for long COVID-19, with immune systems having difficulty degrading viral proteins/particles.