A comparative study of spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 and its variant Omicron (B.1.1.529) on some immune characteristics.
Sci Rep
; 12(1): 17058, 2022 Oct 12.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2062275
ABSTRACT
The emergence of Omicron variant raises great concerns because of its rapid transmissibility and its numerous mutations in spike protein (S-protein). S-protein can act as a pathogen-associated molecular pattern and complement activator as well as antigen. We compared some immune characteristics of trimer S-proteins for wild type (WT-S) and B.1.1.529 Omicron (Omicron-S) to investigate whether the mutations have affected its pathogenicity and antigenic shift. The results indicated that WT-S and Omicron-S directly activated nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and induced the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines in macrophages, but the actions of Omicron-S were weaker. These inflammatory reactions could be abrogated by a Toll-like receptor 4 antagonist TAK-242. Two S-proteins failed to induce the production of antiviral molecular interferon-ß. In contrast to pro-inflammatory effects, the ability of two S-proteins to activate complement was comparable. We also compared the binding ability of two S-proteins to a high-titer anti-WT-receptor-binding domain antibody. The data showed that WT-S strongly bound to this antibody, while Omicron-S was completely off-target. Collectively, the mutations of Omicron have a great impact on the pro-inflammatory ability and epitopes of S-protein, but little effect on its ability to activate complement. Addressing these issues can be helpful for more adequate understanding of the pathogenicity of Omicron and the vaccine breakthrough infection.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Vaccines
/
COVID-19
Topics:
Vaccines
/
Variants
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Sci Rep
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
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