ArticleThe EMBO journal2021
SARS-CoV-2 Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants display enhanced Spike-mediated syncytia formation.
Article in The EMBO journal, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 125 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
125 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 194 citations in OpenAlex.
- JAK inhibitors and COVID-19.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2022Pooled it
- Circulating cholesterol fuels SARS-CoV-2 replication via ORF3a.EMBO reports · 2026Article
- Temperature-dependent replication and sensitivity to innate immunity of human coronavirus HKU1.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Viral syncytia evolve to resist interferon.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Stealth replication of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron in the nasal epithelium at physiological temperature.Journal of virology · 2026Article
- Mathematical Modeling of Cell-Cell Fusion Assays to Characterize Virus-Mediated Cell Fusion.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- Insertion outside the supersite in the N-terminal domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein may contribute to evasion of neutralizing antibodies.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
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- LL-37 Inhibits TMPRSS2-Mediated S2' Site Cleavage and SARS-CoV-2 Infection but Not Omicron Variants.Cell proliferation · 2025Article
- SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant induces severe damage in the nasal cavity from the first day post-infection in the Syrian hamster model.Virulence · 2025Article
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- Clade C MERS-CoV camel strains vary in protease utilization during viral entry.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Identification and characterization of a nonpeptidic cyclophilin ligand with antiviral activity against feline and porcine α-coronaviruses.Veterinary research · 2025Article
- Intra-host SARS-CoV-2 diversity in immunocompromised people living with HIV provides insight into the evolutionary trajectory of SARS-CoV-2.Journal of virology · 2025Article
- MERS-related coronavirus circulating in pangolins exhibits strong fusogenicity in human cells and high sensitivity to fusion inhibitors.Cell reports. Medicine · 2025Article
- Review
- Nonlytic Egress and Transmission in the Virus World.Annual review of biochemistry · 2025Review
- Role of N-linked glycosylation sites in human ACE2 in SARS-CoV-2 and hCoV-NL63 infection.Journal of virology · 2025Article
- The consequences of SARS-CoV-2 within-host persistence.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2025Review
65 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
18 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Severe COVID-19 is characterized by lung abnormalities, including the presence of syncytial pneumocytes. Syncytia form when SARS-CoV-2 spike protein expressed on the surface of infected cells interacts with the ACE2 receptor on neighboring cells. The syncytia forming potential of spike variant proteins remain poorly characterized. Here, we first assessed Alpha (B.1.1.7) and Beta (B.1.351) spread and fusion in cell cultures, compared with the ancestral D614G strain. Alpha and Beta replicated similarly to D614G strain in Vero, Caco-2, Calu-3, and primary airway cells. However, Alpha and Beta formed larger and more numerous syncytia. Variant spike proteins displayed higher ACE2 affinity compared with D614G. Alpha, Beta, and D614G fusion was similarly inhibited by interferon-induced transmembrane proteins (IFITMs). Individual mutations present in Alpha and Beta spikes modified fusogenicity, binding to ACE2 or recognition by monoclonal antibodies. We further show that Delta spike also triggers faster fusion relative to D614G. Thus, SARS-CoV-2 emerging variants display enhanced syncytia formation.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.