Antibody evasion properties of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron sublineages.

ABSTRACT: The identification of the Omicron (B.1.1.529.1 or BA.1) variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Botswana in November 2021¹ immediately caused concern owing to the number of alterations in the spike glycoprotein that could lead to antibody evasion. We² and others^3-6 recently reported results confirming such a concern. Continuing surveillance of the evolution of Omicron has since revealed the rise in prevalence of two sublineages, BA.1 with an R346K alteration (BA.1+R346K, also known as BA.1.1) and B.1.1.529.2 (BA.2), with the latter containing 8 unique spike alterations and lacking 13 spike alterations found in BA.1. Here we extended our studies to include antigenic characterization of these new sublineages. Polyclonal sera

SUBMITTER: Iketani S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9021018 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature