SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant emerged under immune selection

• DOI: 10.1038/s41564-022-01246-1
• Publication Date: 2022-10-04T10:03:39Z
• Authors: Chee Wah Tan; Wan Ni Chia; Feng Zhu; Barnaby E. Young; Napaporn Chantasr...; Shi-Hsia Hwa; Aileen Ying-Yan Yeoh; Beng Lee Lim; Wee Chee Yap; Surinder Kaur M. ...; Seow Yen Tan; Watsamon Jantarab...; Lim Kai Toh; Shiwei Chen; Jinyan Zhang; Yun Yan Mah; Vivian Chih-Wei Chen; Mark I-C Chen; Supaporn Wacharap...; Alex Sigal; Opass Putcharoen; David Chien Lye; Lin-Fa Wang
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; 03 medical and health sciences; Membrane Glycoproteins; Viral Envelope Proteins; SARS-CoV-2; Neutralization Tests; Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus; Animals; Humans; COVID-19; Antibodies, Viral; 3. Good health

The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant (B.1.1.529 lineage) escapes antibodies that neutralize the ancestral virus. We tested human serum panels from participants with differing infection and vaccination status using a multiplex surrogate virus neutralization assay targeting 20 sarbecoviruses. We found that bat and pangolin sarbecoviruses showed significantly less neutralization escape than the Omicron variant. We propose that SARS-CoV-2 variants have emerged under immune selection pressure and are evolving differently from animal sarbecoviruses.