Pathogenic and transcriptomic differences of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants in the Syrian golden hamster model.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Following the discovery of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its rapid spread throughout the world, new viral variants of concern (VOC) have emerged. There is a critical need to understand the impact of the emerging variants on host response and disease dynamics to facilitate the development of vaccines and therapeutics.

Methods

Syrian golden hamsters are the leading small animal model that recapitulates key aspects of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We performed intranasal inoculation of SARS-CoV-2 into hamsters with the ancestral virus (nCoV-WA1-2020) or VOC first identified in the United Kingdom (B.1.1.7, alpha) and South Africa (B.1.351, beta) and analyzed viral loads and host responses.

Findings

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SUBMITTER: O'Donnell KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8572342 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature