The viral fitness and intrinsic pathogenicity of dominant SARS-CoV-2 Omicron sublineages BA.1, BA.2, and BA.5.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Among the Omicron sublineages that have emerged, BA.1, BA.2, BA.5, and their related sublineages have resulted in the largest number of infections. While recent studies demonstrated that all Omicron sublineages robustly escape neutralizing antibody response, it remains unclear on whether these Omicron sublineages share any pattern of evolutionary trajectory on their replication efficiency and intrinsic pathogenicity along the respiratory tract.

Methods

We compared the virological features, replication capacity of dominant Omicron sublineages BA.1, BA.2 and BA.5 in the human nasal epithelium, and characterized their pathogenicity in K18-hACE2, A129, young C57BL/6, and aged C57BL/6 mice.

Findings

We found that BA.5 replicated most robustly, followed by BA.2 a

SUBMITTER: Shuai H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10448076 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature