Jessica Bassi

Aug 30, 2023 | nature.com | Luca Piccoli |James Case |Young-Jun Park |Kaitlin R Sprouse |Jessica Bassi |Christian Saliba | +25 more

AbstractCurrently circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants have acquired convergent mutations at hot spots in the receptor-binding domain1 (RBD) of the spike protein. The effects of these mutations on viral infection and transmission and the efficacy of vaccines and therapies remains poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that recently emerged BQ.1.1 and XBB.1.5 variants bind host ACE2 with high affinity and promote membrane fusion more efficiently than earlier Omicron variants.

Aug 30, 2023 | nature.com | Luca Piccoli |James Case |Young-Jun Park |Kaitlin R Sprouse |Jessica Bassi |Christian Saliba | +25 more

AbstractCurrently circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants have acquired convergent mutations at hot spots in the receptor-binding domain1 (RBD) of the spike protein. The effects of these mutations on viral infection and transmission and the efficacy of vaccines and therapies remains poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that recently emerged BQ.1.1 and XBB.1.5 variants bind host ACE2 with high affinity and promote membrane fusion more efficiently than earlier Omicron variants.