Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Variants with Recombinant Reporter Viruses Created from a Bacmid System

Cordsmeier, Arne; Jungnickl, Doris; Herrmann, Alexandra; Korn, Klaus; Ensser, Armin

doi:10.3390/ijms24098156

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Variants with Recombinant Reporter Viruses Created from a Bacmid System

by

Arne Cordsmeier

,

Doris Jungnickl

,

Alexandra Herrmann

^†,

Klaus Korn

and

Armin Ensser

^*

Institute for Clinical and Molecular Virology, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91054 Erlangen, Germany

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

Present address: Immunic AG, Lochhamer Schlag 21, 82166 Gräfelfing, Germany.

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(9), 8156; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24098156

Submission received: 14 April 2023 / Revised: 28 April 2023 / Accepted: 28 April 2023 / Published: 2 May 2023

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Virus Engineering and Applications)

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Abstract

SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19, has spread around the world with more than 700 million cases and 6.8 million deaths. Various variants of concern (VoC) have emerged due to mutations and recombination and concurrent selection for increased viral fitness and immune evasion. The viral protein that primarily determines the pathogenicity, infectivity, and transmissibility is the Spike protein. To analyze the specific impact of variant Spike proteins on infection dynamics, we constructed SARS-CoV-2 with a uniform B.1 backbone but with alternative Spike proteins. In addition, ORF6 was replaced by EYFP as a biological safety measure, and for use of this well-established reporter. We show that namely the delta variant Spike proteins cause a distinct phenotype from the wild type (B.1, D614G) and other variants of concern. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the omicron BA.1 Spike results in lower viral loads and a less efficient spread in vitro. Finally, we utilized viruses with the two different reporters EYFP and mCherry to establish a competitive growth assay, demonstrating that most but not all Spike variant viruses were able to outcompete wild type SARS-CoV-2 B.1.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; variants of concern; Spike protein

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MDPI and ACS Style

Cordsmeier, A.; Jungnickl, D.; Herrmann, A.; Korn, K.; Ensser, A. Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Variants with Recombinant Reporter Viruses Created from a Bacmid System. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24, 8156. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24098156

AMA Style

Cordsmeier A, Jungnickl D, Herrmann A, Korn K, Ensser A. Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Variants with Recombinant Reporter Viruses Created from a Bacmid System. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2023; 24(9):8156. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24098156

Chicago/Turabian Style

Cordsmeier, Arne, Doris Jungnickl, Alexandra Herrmann, Klaus Korn, and Armin Ensser. 2023. "Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Variants with Recombinant Reporter Viruses Created from a Bacmid System" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 24, no. 9: 8156. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24098156

APA Style

Cordsmeier, A., Jungnickl, D., Herrmann, A., Korn, K., & Ensser, A. (2023). Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Variants with Recombinant Reporter Viruses Created from a Bacmid System. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24(9), 8156. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24098156

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Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Variants with Recombinant Reporter Viruses Created from a Bacmid System

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