Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA.
Pandemic Research Alliance unit at the Wu Family Center, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA.
Emerg Microbes Infect. 2024 Dec;13(1):2359004. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2024.2359004. Epub 2024 May 31.
As SARS-CoV-2 continues to spread and mutate, tracking the viral evolutionary trajectory and understanding the functional consequences of its mutations remain crucial. Here, we characterized the antibody evasion, ACE2 receptor engagement, and viral infectivity of the highly mutated SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariant BA.2.87.1. Compared with other Omicron subvariants, including EG.5.1 and the current predominant JN.1, BA.2.87.1 exhibits less immune evasion, reduced viral receptor engagement, and comparable infectivity in Calu-3 lung cells. Intriguingly, two large deletions (Δ15-26 and Δ136-146) in the N-terminal domain (NTD) of the spike protein facilitate subtly increased antibody evasion but significantly diminish viral infectivity. Collectively, our data support the announcement by the USA CDC that the public health risk posed by BA.2.87.1 appears to be low.
随着 SARS-CoV-2 的持续传播和变异，追踪病毒的进化轨迹并了解其突变的功能后果仍然至关重要。在这里，我们描述了高度变异的 SARS-CoV-2 Omicron 亚变体 BA.2.87.1 的抗体逃逸、ACE2 受体结合和病毒感染力。与其他 Omicron 亚变体（包括 EG.5.1 和当前主要的 JN.1）相比，BA.2.87.1 表现出较低的免疫逃逸、降低的病毒受体结合和在 Calu-3 肺细胞中相当的感染力。有趣的是，刺突蛋白（spike protein）N 端结构域（NTD）中的两个大缺失（Δ15-26 和 Δ136-146）促进了微妙的抗体逃逸增加，但显著降低了病毒感染力。总的来说，我们的数据支持美国疾病控制与预防中心（USA CDC）的声明，即 BA.2.87.1 带来的公共卫生风险似乎较低。
