SARS-CoV-2 ‘Deltacron’ variant exhibits immune-escape properties similar to Omicron BA.1 Omicron Coronavirus Disease COVID IJMS_MDPI leibnizprimate uniGoettingen HannoverMh
By Nidhi Saha, BDSNov 16 2022Reviewed by Benedette Cuffari, M.Sc. A recent International Journal of Molecular Sciences study reports that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 recombinant lineage XD, otherwise known as 'Deltacron,' does not exhibit higher transmissibility or immune evasion than the Omicron BA.1 variant.
The SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant was associated with an increased hospitalization rate compared to previous SARS-CoV-2 variants. In South Africa, the Delta variant dominated until late 2021; immediately after, the Omicron variant emerged and quickly replaced the Delta variant as the dominant circulating strain worldwide.
The XD recombinant strain has raised concerns, as it may combine the Delta variant's increased pathogenicity with the Omicron VOC's high transmissibility and antibody evasion properties. Yet, neither the entry factor utilization nor its cell tropism has been studied, with the limited evidence available on the efficacy of neutralizing antibodies in blocking this pathway of the XD lineage.
Next, the S protein-driven cell-cell fusion that contributes to COVID-19 pathogenesis was analyzed. To examine S protein cleavage and particle inclusion, the researchers evaluated the cleavage efficiency of pseudovirus-incorporated S proteins using immunoblotting. Finally, quantifying virus-encoded firefly luciferase activity in cell lysates was utilized to determine the efficacy of transduction.
The cleavage efficiency of pseudovirus-incorporated S proteins did not differ significantly amongst the tested S proteins. However, XD-S had a modest tendency to cleave lower than Delta and Omicron S proteins. There was a general correlation between the entry efficiency of particles carrying Omicron S and XD.
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