SARS-CoV-2 mutations in competition UNIVERSITY OF BERN
NEWS RELEASE 26-FEB-2021
The D614G variant carries a mutation in the spike protein that makes it easier for the virus to dock onto human cells. The researchers at IVI and in David E. Wentworth's laboratory at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta (USA) first demonstrated in human cell cultures from the upper respiratory tract, as well as from the nose, that the D614G variant binds more strongly and also replicates faster than the original virus. The increased replication of the D614G variant was also confirmed in vivo, in a new mouse model first described in this study. These experiments were also carried out at the IVI in Charaf Benarafa's group.
The IVI relies on a cloning technique developed in Bern a year ago, in which SARS-CoV-2 viruses can be exactly reproduced in the laboratory. The British virus, for example, is known to have not just one but often more than 14 mutations, eight of which occur in the spike protein. Thus, with the help of the cloning technique, any number of mutations of variants can be reproduced and used to compete against each other in the established cell cultures and animal models. The results show how single mutations affect the fitness and transmissibility of new variants. "Our testing strategy allows us to rapidly examine why other, newly emerging virus variants have become established," says Volker Thiel.
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In addition, this study suggests that the safety of LAIVs should be closely monitored after mass vaccination and that novel strategies to continue to improve LAIV vaccine safety should be investigated.
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