SARS-CoV-2 infection in immunosuppression evolves sub-lineages which independently accumulate neutralization escape mutations.

ABSTRACT: One mechanism of variant formation may be evolution during long-term infection in immunosuppressed people. To understand the viral phenotypes evolved during such infection, we tested SARS-CoV-2 viruses evolved from an ancestral B.1 lineage infection lasting over 190 days post-diagnosis in an advanced HIV disease immunosuppressed individual. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis showed two evolving sub-lineages, with the second sub-lineage replacing the first sub-lineage in a seeming evolutionary sweep. Each sub-lineage independently evolved escape from neutralizing antibodies. The most evolved virus for the first sub-lineage (isolated day 34) and the second sub-lineage (isolated day 190) showed similar escape from ancestral SARS-CoV-2 and Delta-variant infection elicited neutralizing immunity

SUBMITTER: Lustig G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10868398 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature