Cell Discovery, 9 January, 2024, DOI：https://doi.org/10.1038/s41421-023-00631-2

Fusogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.86 subvariant and its sensitivity to the prokaryotic recombinant EK1 peptide

Lijue Wang, Fanke Jiao, Hanxiao Jiang, Yitao Yang, Ziqi Huang, Qian Wang, Wei Xu, Yun Zhu, Shuai Xia, Shibo Jiang & Lu Lu

Abstract

BA.2.86, a novel SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariant, has emerged along with widespread concerns since the number of mutations in its S protein exceeds that of other Omicron subvariants (Fig. 1a). On August 18, 2023, the World Health Organization formally classified BA.2.86 as a variant under monitoring (VUM)1. Notably, numerous studies have reported that BA.2.86 has evaded humoral immunity induced by both inactivated and mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, as well as COVID-19 convalescent plasma2,3. However, in comparison to previous dominant SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants, the fusogenicity of BA.2.86 and its sensitivity to coronavirus fusion and replication inhibitors have yet to be systematically evaluated.

Article link：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41421-023-00631-2