@article{749c900577594c3a812fb9d9a5bdafef,
title = "SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Induces Enhanced Mucosal Interferon Response Compared to other Variants of Concern, Associated with Restricted Replication in Human Lung Tissues",
abstract = "SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant has been characterized by decreased clinical severity, raising the question of whether early variant-specific interactions within the mucosal surfaces of the respiratory tract could mediate its attenuated pathogenicity. Here, we employed ex vivo infection of native human nasal and lung tissues to investigate the local-mucosal susceptibility and innate immune response to Omicron compared to Delta and earlier SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC). We show that the replication of Omicron in lung tissues is highly restricted compared to other VOC, whereas it remains relatively unchanged in nasal tissues. Mechanistically, Omicron induced a much stronger antiviral interferon response in infected tissues compared to Delta and earlier VOC-a difference, which was most striking in the lung tissues, where the innate immune response to all other SARS-CoV-2 VOC was blunted. Notably, blocking the innate immune signaling restored Omicron replication in the lung tissues. Our data provide new insights to the reduced lung involvement and clinical severity of Omicron.",
keywords = "COVID-19, Omicron, SARS-CoV-2, interferon response, lung organ culture, nasal organ culture, organ culture",
author = "Or Alfi and Marah Hamdan and Ori Wald and Arkadi Yakirevitch and Ori Wandel and Esther Oiknine-Djian and Ben Gvili and Hadas Knoller and Noa Rozendorn and {Golan Berman}, Hadar and Sheera Adar and Olesya Vorontsov and Michal Mandelboim and Zichria Zakay-Rones and Menachem Oberbaum and Amos Panet and Wolf, {Dana G.}",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 by the authors.",
year = "2022",
month = jul,
doi = "10.3390/v14071583",
language = "אנגלית",
volume = "14",
journal = "Viruses",
issn = "1999-4915",
publisher = "Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)",
number = "7",
}