Attenuated fusogenicity and pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant

Abstract

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Virological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 BA.2 variant

“…This hypothesis is further supported by the observations in BA.2 in the present study. However, unlike Delta, the higher fusogenicity of BA.2 appears to be not attributed to the higher efficacy of S cleavage 11,12,23,27 . Moreover, although TMPRSS2 increased the efficacies of both cell-cell fusion 23 and cell-free infection mediated by B.1.1 S and Delta S, TMPRSS2 increased the efficacy of BA.2 S-mediated cell-cell fusion but did not affect that of BA.2 S-mediated cell-free infection.…”

“…The "large type II pneumocytes" are the hyperplasia of type II pneumocytes exhibiting more than 10-μm-diameter nucleus. We described "large type II pneumocytes" as one of the remarkable histopathological features reacting SARS-CoV-2 infection in our previous studies 12,23 . Total histology score is the sum of these five indices.…”

“…Notably, BA.2 has initiated outcompeting BA.1 3 , suggesting that BA.2 is more transmissible than BA. 1. In a few months since the emergence of BA.1, we and others revealed the virological characteristics of BA.1 [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] . For instance, BA.1 is highly resistant to the vaccine-induced humoral immunity and antiviral drugs [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][16][17][18][19] .…”

Follow-up investigation and detailed mutational characterization of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant lineages (BA.1, BA.2, BA.3 and BA.1.1)

“…After the investigation on the first occurrence place/time of each mutation (Table 1), it was revealed that several mutations appeared for the first time in North America (24 mutations). Others appeared for the first time in Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, or Oceania (19,18,12,5, and 3 mutations, respectively). Interestingly, the bulk of these mutations first appeared in the first four months of 2020 (60 mutations in total).…”

Предварительный анализ генетической изменчивости изолятов вируса SARS-CoV-2, относящихся к варианту Омикрон, циркулирующих на территории Российской Федерации

“…Мутация R346K может быть ассоциирована с изменением антигенности [28,29], как и мутация S371L [30]. По сравнению с вариантом Альфа в варианте Омикрон присутствуют мутации N679K и P681H в сайте протеолитического расщепления, которые связаны с увеличением эффективности разрезания сайта фуриновыми протеазами, что ассоциируется с повышенной инфекционностью [14].…”