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

Suzuki, Rigel; Yamasoba, Daichi; Kimura, Izumi; Wang, Lei; Kishimoto, Mai; Ito, Jumpei; Morioka, Yuhei; Nao, Naganori; Nasser, Hesham; Uriu, Keiya; Kosugi, Yusuke; Tsuda, Masumi; Orba, Yasuko; Sasaki, Michihito; Shimizu, Ryo; Kawabata, Ryoko; Yoshimatsu, Kumiko; Asakura, Hiroyuki; Nagashima, Mami; Sadamasu, Kenji; Yoshimura, Kazuhisa; Suganami, Mai; Oide, Akiko; Chiba, Mika; Ito, Hayato; Tamura, Tomokazu; Tsushima, Kana; Kubo, Haruko; Ferdous, Zannatul; Mouri, Hiromi; Iida, Miki; Kasahara, Keiko; Tabata, Koshiro; Ishizuka, Mariko; Shigeno, Asako; Tokunaga, Kenzo; Ozono, Seiya; Yoshida, Isao; Nakagawa, So; Wu, Jiaqi; Takahashi, Miyoko; Kaneda, Atsushi; Seki, M.; Fujiki, Ryoji; Nawai, Bahityar Rahmutulla; Suzuki, Yutaka; Kashima, Yukie; Abe, Kazumi; Imamura, Kiyomi; Shirakawa, Kotaro; Takaori‐Kondo, Akifumi; Kazuma, Yasuhiro; Nomura, Ryosuke; Horisawa, Yoshihito; Nagata, Kayoko; Kawai, Yugo; Yanagida, Yohei; Tashiro, Yusuke; Takahashi, Otowa; Kitazato, Kazuko; Hasebe, Haruyo; Motozono, Chihiro; Toyoda, Mako; Tan, Toong Seng; Ngare, Isaac; Ueno, Takamasa; Saito, Akatsuki; Butlertanaka, Erika P.; Tanaka, Yuri; Morizako, Nanami; Sawa, Hirofumi; Ikeda, Terumasa; Irie, Takashi; Matsuno, Keita; Tanaka, Shinya; Fukuhara, Takasuke; Sato, Kei

doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04462-1

articleNatureFeb 1, 2022HYBRID OA

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

RSRigel Suzuki DYDaichi Yamasoba IKIzumi Kimura LWLei Wang MKMai Kishimoto

Hokkaido University · National Institute of Infectious Diseases · +15 more institutions

PubMed

Indexed incrossrefpubmed

Abstract

Abstract The emergence of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 is an urgent global health concern 1 . In this study, our statistical modelling suggests that Omicron has spread more rapidly than the Delta variant in several countries including South Africa. Cell culture experiments showed Omicron to be less fusogenic than Delta and than an ancestral strain of SARS-CoV-2. Although the spike (S) protein of Delta is efficiently cleaved into two subunits, which facilitates cell–cell fusion 2,3 , the Omicron S protein was less efficiently cleaved compared to the S proteins of Delta and ancestral SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, in a hamster model, Omicron showed decreased lung infectivity and was less pathogenic compared to…

Citation impact

749

total citations

FWCI: 74.50
Percentile: 100%
References: 50

Citations per year

Authors

77

Topics & keywords

Topics

Keywords

Pathogenicity
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
2019-20 coronavirus outbreak
Virology
Biology
Medicine
Microbiology

No related works found for this paper.