Evolution of BA.2.86 to JN.1 reveals that functional changes in non-structural viral proteins are required for fitness of SARS-CoV-2
Because the spike protein is strongly associated with certain virological properties of SARS-CoV-2, such as immune evasion and infectivity, most previous studies on SARS-CoV-2 variants have focused on spike protein mutations. However, the non-spike proteins also contribute to infectivity, as observed throughout the evolution of Omicron subvariants. In this study, we demonstrate a "trade-off" strategy in SARS-CoV-2 Omicron JN.1 in which the reduced infectivity caused by spike mutation is compensated by non-spike mutations. Our results provide insight into the evolutionary scenario of the emerging virus in the human population.
Authors
- Keita Matsuno (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4205-6526)
- Rina Hashimoto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7174-4563)
- Miki Nagao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8886-6145)
- Kei Sato (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4431-1380)
- Yasufumi Matsumura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8595-8944)
- Shuhei Tsujino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-7542-3785)
- Masumi Tsuda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5400-5905)
- Yoshitaka Oda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3770-9684)
- Takasuke Fukuhara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5471-8331)
- Kazuo Takayama (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1132-2457)
- Tomokazu Tamura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1395-6610)
- Naganori Nao
- Shinya Tanaka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6470-3301)
- Jumpei Ito (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0440-8321)
- Jingshu Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1098-1327)
- Rigel Suzuki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2700-4867)
- Lei Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2402-2338)
- Saori Suzuki
- Kumiko Yoshimatsu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0062-2753)
- Kaho Okumura
- Yume Mimura
Institutions
- Kyushu University (JP)
- Tokyo Medical University (JP)
- Health Sciences University of Hokkaido (JP)
- Sapporo University (JP)
- Hokkaido University (JP)
- Kyoto University (JP)
- Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (JP)
- National Institute of Infectious Diseases (JP)
- Institut de Recherche Vaccinale (FR)
- Saitama International Medical Center (JP)
- Medical Research Institute (LK)
- MRC University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (GB)
- Sophia University (JP)
- Institute of Science Tokyo (JP)
- The University of Tokyo (JP)
- Kumamoto University (JP)
- The University of Osaka (JP)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Virology
- Published
- 2025-09-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.00908-25
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 6.98