Virological Traits of the SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.87.1 Lineage

Lu Zhang; Alexandra Dopfer-Jablonka; Inga Nehlmeier; Amy Kempf; Luise Graichen; Noemí Calderón Hampel; Anne Cossmann; Metodi V Stankov; Gema Morillas Ramos; Sebastian R Schulz; Hans-Martin Jäck; Georg M N Behrens; Stefan Pöhlmann; Markus Hoffmann

doi:10.3390/vaccines12050487

Virological Traits of the SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.87.1 Lineage

Vaccines (Basel). 2024 May 1;12(5):487. doi: 10.3390/vaccines12050487.

Authors

Lu Zhang^{1

2}, Alexandra Dopfer-Jablonka^{3

4}, Inga Nehlmeier¹, Amy Kempf^{1

2}, Luise Graichen^{1

2}, Noemí Calderón Hampel³, Anne Cossmann³, Metodi V Stankov³, Gema Morillas Ramos³, Sebastian R Schulz⁵, Hans-Martin Jäck⁵, Georg M N Behrens^{3

4

6}, Stefan Pöhlmann^{1

2}, Markus Hoffmann^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Infection Biology Unit, German Primate Center-Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
² Faculty of Biology and Psychology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany.
³ Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany.
⁴ German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hannover-Braunschweig, 30625 Hannover, Germany.
⁵ Division of Molecular Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine 3, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91054 Erlangen, Germany.
⁶ Center for Individualized Infection Medicine (CiiM), 30625 Hannover, Germany.

Abstract

Transmissibility and immune evasion of the recently emerged, highly mutated SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.87.1 are unknown. Here, we report that BA.2.87.1 efficiently enters human cells but is more sensitive to antibody-mediated neutralization than the currently dominating JN.1 variant. Acquisition of adaptive mutations might thus be needed for efficient spread in the population.

Keywords: ACE2 binding; BA.2.87.1; SARS-CoV-2; antibody evasion; host cell entry; spike protein.

Abstract

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