ArticlemBio2024
Temperature impacts SARS-CoV-2 spike fusogenicity and evolution.
Article in mBio, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Temperature-dependent replication and sensitivity to innate immunity of human coronavirus HKU1.Nature communications · 2026Article
- TNF inhibits SARS-CoV-2 induced cell-cell fusion through activating the SDC4-RhoA signaling to promote actin bundles formation.Cell insight · 2026Article
- Stealth replication of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron in the nasal epithelium at physiological temperature.Journal of virology · 2026Article
- Experimental evolution of Rc-o319 sarbecovirus spike protein reveals limited ACE2 adaptability.Virus evolution · 2026Article
- Mechanisms of Cell-Cell Fusion in SARS-CoV-2: An Evolving Strategy for Transmission and Immune Evasion.Viruses · 2025Review
- Signatures of omicron-like adaptation in early SARS-CoV-2 variants and chronic infection.Cell reports · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 infects both the upper and lower respiratory tracts, which are characterized by different temperatures (33°C and 37°C, respectively). In addition, fever is a common COVID-19 symptom. SARS-CoV-2 has been shown to replicate more efficiently at low temperatures, but the effect of temperature on different viral proteins remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate how temperature affects the SARS-CoV-2 spike function and evolution. We first observed that increasing temperature from 33°C to 37°C or 39°C increased spike-mediated cell-cell fusion. We then experimentally evolved a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike at these different temperatures. We found that spike-mediated cell-cell fusion was maintained during evolution at 39°C but was lost in a high proportion of viruses that evolved at 33°C or 37°C. Consistently, sequencing of the spikes evolved at 33°C or 37°C revealed the accumulation of mutations around the furin cleavage site, a region that determines cell-cell fusion, whereas this did not occur in spikes evolved at 39°C. Finally, using site-directed mutagenesis, we found that disruption of the furin cleavage site had a temperature-dependent effect on spike-induced cell-cell fusion and viral fitness. Our results suggest that variations in body temperature may affect the activity and diversification of the SARS-CoV-2 spike. IMPORTANCE: When it infects humans, SARS-CoV-2 is exposed to different temperatures (e.g., replication site and fever). Temperature has been shown to strongly impact SARS-CoV-2 replication, but how it affects the activity and evolution of the spike protein remains poorly understood. Here, we first show that high temperatures increase the SARS-CoV-2 spike fusogenicity. Then, we demonstrate that the evolution of the spike activity and variants depends on temperature. Finally, we show that the functional effect of specific spike mutations is temperature-dependent. Overall, our results suggest that temperature may be a factor influencing the activity and adaptation of the SARS-CoV-2 spike
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