Evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron spike

Ruth J Parsons; Priyamvada Acharya

doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113444

Evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron spike

Cell Rep. 2023 Dec 26;42(12):113444. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113444. Epub 2023 Nov 18.

Authors

Ruth J Parsons¹, Priyamvada Acharya²

Affiliations

¹ Duke Human Vaccine Institute, Durham, NC 27710, USA; Duke University, Department of Biochemistry, Durham, NC 27710, USA. Electronic address: ruth.parsons@duke.edu.
² Duke Human Vaccine Institute, Durham, NC 27710, USA; Duke University, Department of Biochemistry, Durham, NC 27710, USA; Duke University, Department of Surgery, Durham, NC 27710, USA. Electronic address: priyamvada.acharya@duke.edu.

Abstract

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant of concern, first identified in November 2021, rapidly spread worldwide and diversified into several subvariants. The Omicron spike (S) protein accumulated an unprecedented number of sequence changes relative to previous variants. In this review, we discuss how Omicron S protein structural features modulate host cell receptor binding, virus entry, and immune evasion and highlight how these structural features differentiate Omicron from previous variants. We also examine how key structural properties track across the still-evolving Omicron subvariants and the importance of continuing surveillance of the S protein sequence evolution over time.

Keywords: CP: Microbiology; Covid-19; Omicron; SARS-CoV-2; Spike; Viral evolution; host cell entry; immune evasion; protease cleavage.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Humans
Immune Evasion
SARS-CoV-2

Supplementary concepts

SARS-CoV-2 variants

Grants and funding

R01 AI165947/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States