Mary Wilson
Well-known member
Posted May 26, 2022
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.05.26.493539
Izumi Kimura, Daichi Yamasoba, Tomokazu Tamura, Naganori Nao, Yoshitaka Oda, Shuya Mitoma, Jumpei Ito, Hesham Nasser, Jiri Zahradnik, Keiya Uriu, Shigeru Fujita, Yusuke Kosugi, Lei Wang, Masumi Tsuda, Mai Kishimoto, Hayato Ito, Rigel Suzuki, Ryo Shimizu, MST Monira Begum, Kumiko Yoshimatsu, Jiei Sasaki, Kaori Sasaki-Tabata, Yuki Yamamoto, Tetsuharu Nagamoto, Jun Kanamune, Kouji Kobiyama, Hiroyuki Asakura, Mami Nagashima, Kenji Sadamasu, Kazuhisa Yoshimura, Jin Kuramochi, Gideon Schreiber, Ken J Ishii, Takao Hashiguchi, The Genotype to Phenotype Japan (G2P-Japan) Consortium, Terumasa Ikeda, Akatsuki Saito, Takasuke Fukuhara, Shinya Tanaka, Keita Matsuno, Kei Sato
Abstract
After the global spread of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2 lineage, some BA.2-related variants that acquire mutations in the L452 residue of spike protein, such as BA.2.9.1 and BA.2.13 (L452M), BA.2.12.1 (L452Q), and BA.2.11, BA.4 and BA.5 (L452R), emerged in multiple countries. Our statistical analysis showed that the effective reproduction numbers of these L452R/M/Q-bearing BA.2-related Omicron variants are greater than that of the original BA.2. Neutralization experiments revealed that the immunity induced by BA.1 and BA.2 infections is less effective against BA.4/5. Cell culture experiments showed that BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/5 replicate more efficiently in human alveolar epithelial cells than BA.2, and particularly, BA.4/5 is more fusogenic than BA.2. Furthermore, infection experiments using hamsters indicated that BA.4/5 is more pathogenic than BA.2. Altogether, our multiscale investigations suggest that the risk of L452R/M/Q-bearing BA.2-related Omicron variants, particularly BA.4 and BA.5, to global health is potentially greater than that of original BA.2.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.05.26.493539v1.full.pdf
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.05.26.493539
Izumi Kimura, Daichi Yamasoba, Tomokazu Tamura, Naganori Nao, Yoshitaka Oda, Shuya Mitoma, Jumpei Ito, Hesham Nasser, Jiri Zahradnik, Keiya Uriu, Shigeru Fujita, Yusuke Kosugi, Lei Wang, Masumi Tsuda, Mai Kishimoto, Hayato Ito, Rigel Suzuki, Ryo Shimizu, MST Monira Begum, Kumiko Yoshimatsu, Jiei Sasaki, Kaori Sasaki-Tabata, Yuki Yamamoto, Tetsuharu Nagamoto, Jun Kanamune, Kouji Kobiyama, Hiroyuki Asakura, Mami Nagashima, Kenji Sadamasu, Kazuhisa Yoshimura, Jin Kuramochi, Gideon Schreiber, Ken J Ishii, Takao Hashiguchi, The Genotype to Phenotype Japan (G2P-Japan) Consortium, Terumasa Ikeda, Akatsuki Saito, Takasuke Fukuhara, Shinya Tanaka, Keita Matsuno, Kei Sato
Abstract
After the global spread of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2 lineage, some BA.2-related variants that acquire mutations in the L452 residue of spike protein, such as BA.2.9.1 and BA.2.13 (L452M), BA.2.12.1 (L452Q), and BA.2.11, BA.4 and BA.5 (L452R), emerged in multiple countries. Our statistical analysis showed that the effective reproduction numbers of these L452R/M/Q-bearing BA.2-related Omicron variants are greater than that of the original BA.2. Neutralization experiments revealed that the immunity induced by BA.1 and BA.2 infections is less effective against BA.4/5. Cell culture experiments showed that BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/5 replicate more efficiently in human alveolar epithelial cells than BA.2, and particularly, BA.4/5 is more fusogenic than BA.2. Furthermore, infection experiments using hamsters indicated that BA.4/5 is more pathogenic than BA.2. Altogether, our multiscale investigations suggest that the risk of L452R/M/Q-bearing BA.2-related Omicron variants, particularly BA.4 and BA.5, to global health is potentially greater than that of original BA.2.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.05.26.493539v1.full.pdf
