ArticleJournal of virology2022
SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern Hijack IFITM2 for Efficient Replication in Human Lung Cells.
Article in Journal of virology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Advancing lung organoids toward clinical applications: a global perspective on research focus and future directions.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Temperature-dependent replication and sensitivity to innate immunity of human coronavirus HKU1.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Protocol to differentially quantify spatially resolved viral protein-cellular protein interactions via proximity ligation assays.STAR protocols · 2026Article
- Review
- Autophagy in emerging and highly concerned severe zoonotic infectious diseases.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- SARS-CoV-2 infection enhancement by amphotericin B: implications for disease management.Journal of virology · 2025Article
- CRISPR-Cas9 genetic screens reveal regulation of TMPRSS2 by the Elongin BC-VHL complex.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Common Chemical Plasticizer Di(2-Ethhylhexyl) Phthalate Exposure Exacerbates Coxsackievirus B3 Infection.Viruses · 2024Article
- Review
- A genome-wide arrayed CRISPR screen identifies PLSCR1 as an intrinsic barrier to SARS-CoV-2 entry that recent virus variants have evolved to resist.PLoS biology · 2024Article
- The Antiviral Activity of Interferon-Induced Transmembrane Proteins and Virus Evasion Strategies.Viruses · 2024Review
- The antiviral state of the cell: lessons from SARS-CoV-2.Current opinion in immunology · 2024Review
- Role of Viral Envelope Proteins in Determining Susceptibility of Viruses to IFITM Proteins.Viruses · 2024Review
- Omicron Spike confers enhanced infectivity and interferon resistance to SARS-CoV-2 in human nasal tissue.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Review
- Single cell multi-omic analysis identifies key genes differentially expressed in innate lymphoid cells from COVID-19 patients.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- IFN-γ Triggered IFITM2 Expression to Induce Malignant Phenotype in Elderly GBM.Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN · 2023Article
- Host antiviral factors hijack furin to block SARS-CoV-2, ebola virus, and HIV-1 glycoproteins cleavage.Emerging microbes & infections · 2023Review
- Organoids to Remodel SARS-CoV-2 Research: Updates, Limitations and Perspectives.Aging and disease · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
It has recently been shown that an early SARS-CoV-2 isolate (NL-02-2020) hijacks interferon-induced transmembrane proteins (IFITMs) for efficient replication in human lung cells, cardiomyocytes, and gut organoids. To date, several "variants of concern" (VOCs) showing increased infectivity and resistance to neutralization have emerged and globally replaced the early viral strains. Here, we determined whether the five current SARS-CoV-2 VOCs (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron) maintained the dependency on IFITM proteins for efficient replication. We found that depletion of IFITM2 strongly reduces viral RNA production by all VOCs in the human epithelial lung cancer cell line Calu-3. Silencing of IFITM1 had modest effects, while knockdown of IFITM3 resulted in an intermediate phenotype. Strikingly, depletion of IFITM2 generally reduced infectious virus production by more than 4 orders of magnitude. In addition, an antibody directed against the N terminus of IFITM2 inhibited SARS-CoV-2 VOC replication in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived alveolar epithelial type II cells, thought to represent major viral target cells in the lung. In conclusion, endogenously expressed IFITM proteins (especially IFITM2) are critical cofactors for efficient replication of genuine SARS-CoV-2 VOCs, including the currently dominant Omicron variant.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.