The newly emerged severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron sublineages, including the BA.2-derived BA.2.75.2 and the BA.5-derived BQ.1.1 and XBB.1, have accumulated ...additional spike mutations that may affect vaccine effectiveness. Here we report neutralizing activities of three human serum panels collected from individuals 23-94 days after dose 4 of a parental mRNA vaccine; 14-32 days after a BA.5 bivalent booster from individuals with 2-4 previous doses of parental mRNA vaccine; or 14-32 days after a BA.5 bivalent booster from individuals with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and 2-4 doses of parental mRNA vaccine. The results showed that a BA.5 bivalent booster elicited a high neutralizing titer against BA.4/5 measured at 14-32 days after boost; however, the BA.5 bivalent booster did not produce robust neutralization against the newly emerged BA.2.75.2, BQ.1.1 or XBB.1. Previous infection substantially enhanced the magnitude and breadth of BA.5 bivalent booster-elicited neutralization. Our data support a vaccine update strategy that future boosters should match newly emerged circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) replication and host immune response determine coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but studies evaluating viral evasion of immune ...response are lacking. Here, we use unbiased screening to identify SARS-CoV-2 proteins that antagonize type I interferon (IFN-I) response. We found three proteins that antagonize IFN-I production via distinct mechanisms: nonstructural protein 6 (nsp6) binds TANK binding kinase 1 (TBK1) to suppress interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) phosphorylation, nsp13 binds and blocks TBK1 phosphorylation, and open reading frame 6 (ORF6) binds importin Karyopherin α 2 (KPNA2) to inhibit IRF3 nuclear translocation. We identify two sets of viral proteins that antagonize IFN-I signaling through blocking signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1)/STAT2 phosphorylation or nuclear translocation. Remarkably, SARS-CoV-2 nsp1 and nsp6 suppress IFN-I signaling more efficiently than SARS-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Thus, when treated with IFN-I, a SARS-CoV-2 replicon replicates to a higher level than chimeric replicons containing nsp1 or nsp6 from SARS-CoV or MERS-CoV. Altogether, the study provides insights on SARS-CoV-2 evasion of IFN-I response and its potential impact on viral transmission and pathogenesis.
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•SARS-CoV-2 proteins antagonize IFN-I production and signaling•Different SARS-CoV-2 proteins inhibit IFN-I response through distinct mechanisms•SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, and MERS-CoV proteins inhibit IFN-I at different efficacies•A reporter replicon of SARS-CoV-2 allows experiments at biosafety level 2
Xia et al. perform an unbiased screening to identify SARS-CoV-2 proteins that antagonize the IFN-I response. The identified viral proteins inhibit IFN-I production and signaling through distinct mechanisms. Compared with SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, the IFN-I signaling is more efficiently suppressed by the SARS-CoV-2 nsp1 and nsp6 proteins.
The recent outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) highlights an urgent need for therapeutics. Through a series of drug repurposing screening campaigns, niclosamide, an FDA-approved ...anthelminthic drug, was found to be effective against various viral infections with nanomolar to micromolar potency such as SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, ZIKV, HCV, and human adenovirus, indicating its potential as an antiviral agent. In this brief review, we summarize the broad antiviral activity of niclosamide and highlight its potential clinical use in the treatment of COVID-19.
Virus neutralization remains the gold standard for determining antibody efficacy. Therefore, a high-throughput assay to measure SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies is urgently needed for COVID-19 ...serodiagnosis, convalescent plasma therapy, and vaccine development. Here, we report on a fluorescence-based SARS-CoV-2 neutralization assay that detects SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies in COVID-19 patient specimens and yields comparable results to plaque reduction neutralizing assay, the gold standard of serological testing. The fluorescence-based neutralization assay is specific to measure COVID-19 neutralizing antibodies without cross reacting with patient specimens with other viral, bacterial, or parasitic infections. Collectively, our approach offers a rapid platform that can be scaled to screen people for antibody protection from COVID-19, a key parameter necessary to safely reopen local communities.
We engineered three severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) viruses containing key spike mutations from the newly emerged United Kingdom (UK) and South African (SA) variants: ...N501Y from UK and SA; 69/70-deletion + N501Y + D614G from UK; and E484K + N501Y + D614G from SA. Neutralization geometric mean titers (GMTs) of 20 BTN162b2 vaccine-elicited human sera against the three mutant viruses were 0.81- to 1.46-fold of the GMTs against parental virus, indicating small effects of these mutations on neutralization by sera elicited by two BNT162b2 doses.
How well do serum samples obtained from persons injected with the BNT162b2 vaccine neutralize the P.1, B.1.1.7, and B.1.135 lineages of SARS-CoV-2, first identified in Brazil, Britain, and South ...Africa, respectively? This study provides an answer.
The conductive hydrogels always suffered from high internal friction, large hysteresis, and low capability of accurately predicting physical deformation, which seriously restricted their application ...in smart wearable devices. To address these problems, solvent molecules are directionally inserted into the polymer molecule chains via bridge effect to effectively reduce the molecular internal friction. Moreover, swelling is also combined to eliminate the temporary entanglements in the hydrogel system. The cooperation between the bridge and swollen effect endows the prepared polyacrylamide (PAM)/laponite/H3BO3/ethylene glycol (Eg) organohydrogel (PLBOH) ultralow hysteresis (1.38%, ε = 100%), ultrafast response (≈10 ms), and high linearity in the whole‐strain‐range (R2 = 0.996) with a great sensitivity (GF = 2.68 at the strain range of 0–750%). Meanwhile, the prepared PL10B30OH exhibits long‐term stability, excellent stretchability, and low dissipated energy. Furthermore, the assembled triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) displays an outstanding energy harvesting performance with an output voltage of 200 V with the size of 20 mm × 20 mm. The assembled strain sensors can monitor the small strain of facial expressions and large strain of human movements, indicating the tremendous applications in self‐powered intelligent and flexible wearable electronics under harsh environmental conditions.
An innovative method is developed to prepare the hydrogel via bridge effect to directionally insert solvent molecules into the hydrogel, which effectively acts as lubricate to reduce the molecular internal friction. The developed hydrogel exhibits ultralow‐hysteresis, ultrafast‐response, and whole‐strain‐range linearity contributed by the special molecular structure, which also holds great potential in flexible wearable devices.
Two doses 3 weeks apart of a lipid nanoparticle, nucleoside-modified RNA vaccine encoding a trimerized SARS-CoV-2 receptor–binding domain elicited high levels of antigen-binding and ...virus-neutralizing antibodies in adults 18 to 55 years and 65 to 85 years of age. Reactogenicity was moderate and transient. Large trials are ongoing.
We report that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Delta spike mutation P681R plays a key role in the Alpha-to-Delta variant replacement during the coronavirus disease 2019 ...(COVID-19) pandemic. Delta SARS-CoV-2 efficiently outcompetes the Alpha variant in human lung epithelial cells and primary human airway tissues. The Delta spike mutation P681R is located at a furin cleavage site that separates the spike 1 (S1) and S2 subunits. Reverting the P681R mutation to wild-type P681 significantly reduces the replication of the Delta variant to a level lower than the Alpha variant. Mechanistically, the Delta P681R mutation enhances the cleavage of the full-length spike to S1 and S2, which could improve cell-surface-mediated virus entry. In contrast, the Alpha spike also has a mutation at the same amino acid (P681H), but the cleavage of the Alpha spike is reduced compared with the Delta spike. Our results suggest P681R as a key mutation in enhancing Delta-variant replication via increased S1/S2 cleavage.
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•SARS-CoV-2 spike P681R mutation contributes to Alpha-to-Delta variant replacement•Delta P681R mutation enhances the cleavage of full-length spike to S1 and S2•Mutations affecting S1/S2 cleavage must be closely monitored in variant surveillance
It is important to identify mutations that account for the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants. Liu et al. show that the Delta spike mutation P681R enhances the cleavage of full-length spike to S1 and S2, which improves cell-surface-mediated virus entry and leads to the Alpha-to-Delta variant replacement.
The spread of the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant underscores the importance of analyzing the cross-protection from previous non-Omicron infection. We have developed a high-throughput neutralization assay ...for Omicron SARS-CoV-2 by engineering the Omicron spike gene into an mNeonGreen USA-WA1/2020 SARS-CoV-2 (isolated in January 2020). Using this assay, we determine the neutralization titers (defined as the maximal serum dilution that inhibited 50% of infectious virus) of patient sera collected at 1- or 6-months after infection with non-Omicron SARS-CoV-2. From 1- to 6-month post-infection, the neutralization titers against USA-WA1/2020 decrease from 601 to 142 (a 4.2-fold reduction), while the neutralization titers against Omicron-spike SARS-CoV-2 remain low at 38 and 32, respectively. Thus, at 1- and 6-months after non-Omicron SARS-CoV-2 infection, the neutralization titers against Omicron are 15.8- and 4.4-fold lower than those against USA-WA1/2020, respectively. The low cross-neutralization against Omicron from previous non-Omicron infection supports vaccination of formerly infected individuals to mitigate the health impact of the ongoing Omicron surge.
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