ArticleNature communications2024
Omicron Spike confers enhanced infectivity and interferon resistance to SARS-CoV-2 in human nasal tissue.
Article in Nature communications, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Saline nasal irrigation and gargling in COVID-19: Part II. Outcomes in Omicron and risk-benefit for self-care.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of inhaled interferon-β1a on SARS-CoV-2 diversity and evolution.Microbiology spectrum · 2026Trial
- Article
- Temporal Dynamics of Innate Immune Activation and Viral Interference During Sequential Co-Infection with Influenza A Virus and SARS-CoV-2: Molecular Mechanisms, Clinical Evidence, and Therapeutic Implications.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Monitoring viral evolution and epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 during 2022-2023 using Integrated Genomic Surveillance.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Specific features of the infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 variants in Vero cell culture.Archives of virology · 2026Article
- Distinct commensal bacteria in human nasopharyngeal lymphoid tissue associated with localized immunological memory.iScience · 2026Article
- Intranasal administration of broad-spectrum macrocyclic peptide inhibitor protects against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Stealth replication of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron in the nasal epithelium at physiological temperature.Journal of virology · 2026Article
- Prolonged persistence of tissue-resident memory cells in the upper airway following SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination.Clinical & translational immunology · 2026Article
- Molecular mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 entry: implications for biomedical strategies.Microbiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR · 2025Review
- Evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in utilizing host transmembrane serine proteases.iScience · 2025Article
- Differential response of human plasmacytoid pre-dendritic cells to SARS-CoV-2 variants.iScience · 2025Article
- Deciphering TLR and JAK/STAT pathways: genetic variants and targeted therapies in COVID-19.Molecular biology reports · 2025Review
- Review
- Quantitative characterisation of extracellular vesicles designed to decoy or compete with SARS-CoV-2 reveals differential mode of action across variants of concern and highlights the diversity of Omicron.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2025Article
- Deep Sequencing Reveals Dual Evolution of SARS-CoV-2: Insights Into Defective Genomes From Wuhan-Hu-1 Variants to Omicron Subvariants.Journal of medical virology · 2025Article
- Coronavirus Disease 2019 Symptoms by Immunity Status and Predominant-Variant Period Among US Blood Donors.Open forum infectious diseases · 2025Article
- The nasal microbiome modulates risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection.EBioMedicine · 2025Article
- CRISPR-Cas9 genetic screens reveal regulation of TMPRSS2 by the Elongin BC-VHL complex.Scientific reports · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Omicron emerged following COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, displaced previous SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern worldwide, and gave rise to lineages that continue to spread. Here, we show that Omicron exhibits increased infectivity in primary adult upper airway tissue relative to Delta. Using recombinant forms of SARS-CoV-2 and nasal epithelial cells cultured at the liquid-air interface, we show that mutations unique to Omicron Spike enable enhanced entry into nasal tissue. Unlike earlier variants of SARS-CoV-2, our findings suggest that Omicron enters nasal cells independently of serine transmembrane proteases and instead relies upon metalloproteinases to catalyze membrane fusion. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this entry pathway unlocked by Omicron Spike enables evasion from constitutive and interferon-induced antiviral factors that restrict SARS-CoV-2 entry following attachment. Therefore, the increased transmissibility exhibited by Omicron in humans may be attributed not only to its evasion of vaccine-elicited adaptive immunity, but also to its superior invasion of nasal epithelia and resistance to the cell-intrinsic barriers present therein.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.