Functional differences among the spike glycoproteins of multiple emerging severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 variants of concern

Qian Wang; Manoj S Nair; Saumya Anang; Shijian Zhang; Hanh Nguyen; Yaoxing Huang; Lihong Liu; David D Ho; Joseph G Sodroski

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.103393

Functional differences among the spike glycoproteins of multiple emerging severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 variants of concern

iScience. 2021 Nov 19;24(11):103393. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103393. Epub 2021 Nov 1.

Authors

Qian Wang¹, Manoj S Nair², Saumya Anang¹, Shijian Zhang¹, Hanh Nguyen¹, Yaoxing Huang², Lihong Liu², David D Ho², Joseph G Sodroski^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cancer Immunology and Virology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Department of Microbiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
² Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10032, USA.
³ Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Abstract

We compared the functional properties of spike (S) glycoproteins from the original SARS-CoV-2 strain (D614) (Wuhan, China), the globally dominant D614G strain, and emerging geographic variants: B.1.1.7 (United Kingdom), B.1.351 (South Africa), P.1 (Brazil), and B.1.1.248 (Brazil/Japan). Compared with D614G, the emerging variants exhibited an increased affinity for the receptor, ACE2, and increased ability to infect cells with low ACE2 levels. All variants lost infectivity similarly at room temperature and 37°C; however, in the cold, B.1.1.7 was more stable, and P.1 and B.1.1.248 were less stable. Shedding of the S1 glycoprotein from the S contributed to virus inactivation in the cold. B.1.351, P.1, and B.1.1.248 were neutralized by convalescent and vaccinee sera less efficiently than the other variants. S glycoprotein properties such as requirements for ACE2 levels on the target cell, functional stability in the cold, and resistance to host neutralizing antibodies potentially contribute to the outgrowth of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Keywords: Virology.