Immunological and Pathological Peculiarity of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Beta Variant
Sun-Hee Lee, Gun Young Yoon, Su Jin Lee, Young‐Chan Kwon, Hyun-Woo Moon, Yujin Kim, Haesoo Kim, Wooseong Lee, Gi Uk Jeong, Chonsaeng Kim, Kyun‐Do Kim, Seong‐Jun Kim, Dae‐Gyun Ahn
Abstract
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, diverse SARS-CoV-2 variants have been identified. These variants have different infectivity and transmissibility from the ancestral strains. However, underlying molecular mechanisms have not yet been fully elucidated. In our study, the beta variant showed distinct pathological conditions and cytokine release kinetics from an ancestral strain in a mouse model. It was associated with higher neutrophil recruitment by increased levels of CXCL1/2, CXCR2, and interleukin 1β (IL-1β) at a later stage of viral infection. Our study will provide a better understanding of SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis.