tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Nature
. 2022 Feb 1.
doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04462-1. Online ahead of print.
Attenuated fusogenicity and pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant
Rigel Suzuki[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 [/SUP], Daichi Yamasoba[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 2 3 [/SUP], Izumi Kimura[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 2 [/SUP], Lei Wang[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Mai Kishimoto[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 6 [/SUP], Jumpei Ito[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 2 [/SUP], Yuhei Morioka[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Naganori Nao[SUP] 7 8 [/SUP], Hesham Nasser[SUP] 9 10 [/SUP], Keiya Uriu[SUP] 2 11 [/SUP], Yusuke Kosugi[SUP] 2 12 13 [/SUP], Masumi Tsuda[SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Yasuko Orba[SUP] 6 14 [/SUP], Michihito Sasaki[SUP] 6 14 [/SUP], Ryo Shimizu[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Ryoko Kawabata[SUP] 15 [/SUP], Kumiko Yoshimatsu[SUP] 16 [/SUP], Hiroyuki Asakura[SUP] 17 [/SUP], Mami Nagashima[SUP] 17 [/SUP], Kenji Sadamasu[SUP] 17 [/SUP], Kazuhisa Yoshimura[SUP] 17 [/SUP], Genotype to Phenotype Japan (G2P-Japan) Consortium; Hirofumi Sawa[SUP] 6 7 8 14 [/SUP], Terumasa Ikeda[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Takashi Irie[SUP] 15 [/SUP], Keita Matsuno[SUP] 18 19 20 [/SUP], Shinya Tanaka[SUP] 21 22 [/SUP], Takasuke Fukuhara[SUP] 23 [/SUP], Kei Sato[SUP] 24 25 26 [/SUP]
Collaborators, Affiliations
Abstract
The emergence of a new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant, Omicron, is an urgent global health concern (ref.[SUP]1[/SUP]). Our statistical modelling suggests that Omicron has spread more rapidly than the Delta variant in several countries including South Africa. Cell culture experiments show that Omicron is less fusogenic than Delta and an ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strain. Although the spike (S) protein of Delta is efficiently cleaved into two subunits, which facilitates cell-cell fusion[SUP]2,3[/SUP], Omicron S is less efficiently cleaved compared to Delta S and ancestral SARS-CoV-2 S. Furthermore, in a hamster model, Omicron shows decreased lung infectivity and is less pathogenic compared to Delta and ancestral SARS-CoV-2.
. 2022 Feb 1.
doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04462-1. Online ahead of print.
Attenuated fusogenicity and pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant
Rigel Suzuki[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 [/SUP], Daichi Yamasoba[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 2 3 [/SUP], Izumi Kimura[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 2 [/SUP], Lei Wang[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Mai Kishimoto[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 6 [/SUP], Jumpei Ito[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 2 [/SUP], Yuhei Morioka[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Naganori Nao[SUP] 7 8 [/SUP], Hesham Nasser[SUP] 9 10 [/SUP], Keiya Uriu[SUP] 2 11 [/SUP], Yusuke Kosugi[SUP] 2 12 13 [/SUP], Masumi Tsuda[SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Yasuko Orba[SUP] 6 14 [/SUP], Michihito Sasaki[SUP] 6 14 [/SUP], Ryo Shimizu[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Ryoko Kawabata[SUP] 15 [/SUP], Kumiko Yoshimatsu[SUP] 16 [/SUP], Hiroyuki Asakura[SUP] 17 [/SUP], Mami Nagashima[SUP] 17 [/SUP], Kenji Sadamasu[SUP] 17 [/SUP], Kazuhisa Yoshimura[SUP] 17 [/SUP], Genotype to Phenotype Japan (G2P-Japan) Consortium; Hirofumi Sawa[SUP] 6 7 8 14 [/SUP], Terumasa Ikeda[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Takashi Irie[SUP] 15 [/SUP], Keita Matsuno[SUP] 18 19 20 [/SUP], Shinya Tanaka[SUP] 21 22 [/SUP], Takasuke Fukuhara[SUP] 23 [/SUP], Kei Sato[SUP] 24 25 26 [/SUP]
Collaborators, Affiliations
- PMID: 35104835
- DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04462-1
Abstract
The emergence of a new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant, Omicron, is an urgent global health concern (ref.[SUP]1[/SUP]). Our statistical modelling suggests that Omicron has spread more rapidly than the Delta variant in several countries including South Africa. Cell culture experiments show that Omicron is less fusogenic than Delta and an ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strain. Although the spike (S) protein of Delta is efficiently cleaved into two subunits, which facilitates cell-cell fusion[SUP]2,3[/SUP], Omicron S is less efficiently cleaved compared to Delta S and ancestral SARS-CoV-2 S. Furthermore, in a hamster model, Omicron shows decreased lung infectivity and is less pathogenic compared to Delta and ancestral SARS-CoV-2.