Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37311762›Full record

ArticleNature communications2023

Omicron subvariant BA.5 efficiently infects lung cells.

Markus Hoffmann, Lok-Yin Roy Wong, Prerna Arora, Lu Zhang, Cheila Rocha, Abby Odle, Inga Nehlmeier, Amy Kempf, Anja Richter, Nico Joel Halwe and 7 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
26citing papers in PubMed
8.2field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

26 citing papers in PubMed, 42 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
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  9. Distinct Responses of Cystic Fibrosis Epithelial Cells to SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A Virus.American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Markus Hoffmann *Infection Biology Unit, German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Germany. mhoffmann@dpz.eu.ORCID 0000-0003-4603-7696
Lok-Yin Roy Wong *Departments of Microbiology and Immunology, BSB 3-712, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
Prerna Arora *Infection Biology Unit, German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Germany.
Lu ZhangInfection Biology Unit, German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Germany.
Cheila RochaInfection Biology Unit, German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Germany.
Abby OdleDepartments of Microbiology and Immunology, BSB 3-712, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
Inga NehlmeierInfection Biology Unit, German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-8752-7491
Amy KempfInfection Biology Unit, German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Germany.
Anja RichterInstitute of Virology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Charité Mitte, Berlin, Germany.
Nico Joel HalweInstitut für Virusdiagnostik (IVD), Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald - Insel Riems, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-7983-2808
Jacob SchönInstitut für Virusdiagnostik (IVD), Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald - Insel Riems, Germany.
Lorenz UlrichInstitut für Virusdiagnostik (IVD), Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald - Insel Riems, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-5004-806X
Donata HoffmannInstitut für Virusdiagnostik (IVD), Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald - Insel Riems, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-4552-031X
Martin BeerInstitut für Virusdiagnostik (IVD), Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald - Insel Riems, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-0598-5254
Christian DrostenInstitute of Virology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Charité Mitte, Berlin, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-7923-0519
Stanley PerlmanDepartments of Microbiology and Immunology, BSB 3-712, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4213-2354
Stefan PöhlmannInfection Biology Unit, German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Germany. spoehlmann@dpz.eu.ORCID 0000-0001-6086-9136
German Primate Center · DEFriedrich-Loeffler-Institut · DEUniversity of Iowa · USCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin · DE

Funding

SARS-CoV Proteins in Heterologous Viral InfectionP01AI060699 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF IOWA · PI PERLMAN, STANLEY · 2004 to 2021
$21.5M
Role of eicosanoids in pathogenic human CoV infectionsR01AI129269 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF IOWA · PI Stanley Perlman · 2016 to 2026
$4.7M
Phenotypic and functional characterization of Betacoronavirus Internal protein in relation to virulenceK99AI170996 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF IOWA · PI WONG, LOK-YIN ROY · 2022 to 2023
$181k
NIAID NIH HHS HHSN272201400006CNIAID NIH HHS K99 AI170996NIAID NIH HHS P01 AI060699NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI129269
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants BA.1 and BA.2 exhibit reduced lung cell infection relative to previously circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants, which may account for their reduced pathogenicity. However, it is unclear whether lung cell infection by BA.5, which displaced these variants, remains attenuated. Here, we show that the spike (S) protein of BA.5 exhibits increased cleavage at the S1/S2 site and drives cell-cell fusion and lung cell entry with higher efficiency than its counterparts from BA.1 and BA.2. Increased lung cell entry depends on mutation H69Δ/V70Δ and is associated with efficient replication of BA.5 in cultured lung cells. Further, BA.5 replicates in the lungs of female Balb/c mice and the nasal cavity of female ferrets with much higher efficiency than BA.1. These results suggest that BA.5 has acquired the ability to efficiently infect lung cells, a prerequisite for causing severe disease, suggesting that evolution of Omicron subvariants can result in partial loss of attenuation.

Indexed as

COVID-19AnimalsFemaleFerretsLungMiceMice, Inbred BALB CSARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

PMID37311762
PMCPMC10262933
OpenAlexW4380480194

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.