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Ancestral SARS-CoV-2, but not Omicron, replicates less efficiently in primary pediatric nasal epithelial cells

Version 3 2024-06-19, 15:22
Version 2 2024-06-13, 12:27
Version 1 2023-02-10, 02:12
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-19, 15:22 authored by Y Zhu, KY Chew, M Wu, AC Karawita, G McCallum, LE Steele, A Yamamoto, LI Labzin, T Yarlagadda, AA Khromykh, X Wang, JDJ Sng, CJ Stocks, Y Xia, TR Kollmann, D Martino, M Joensuu, FA Meunier, G Balistreri, H Bielefeldt-Ohmann, AC Bowen, A Kicic, PD Sly, KM Spann, KR Short
Children typically experience more mild symptoms of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) when compared to adults. There is a strong body of evidence that children are also less susceptible to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection with the ancestral viral isolate. However, the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) has been associated with an increased number of pediatric infections. Whether this is the result of widespread adult vaccination or fundamental changes in the biology of SARS-CoV-2 remain to be determined. Here, we use primary nasal epithelial cells (NECs) from children and adults, differentiated at an air–liquid interface to show that the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 replicates to significantly lower titers in the NECs of children compared to those of adults. This was associated with a heightened antiviral response to SARS-CoV-2 in the NECs of children. Importantly, the Delta variant also replicated to significantly lower titers in the NECs of children. This trend was markedly less pronounced in the case of Omicron. It is also striking to note that, at least in terms of viral RNA, Omicron replicated better in pediatric NECs compared to both Delta and the ancestral virus. Taken together, these data show that the nasal epithelium of children supports lower infection and replication of ancestral SARS-CoV-2, although this may be changing as the virus evolves.

History

Journal

PLoS Biology

Volume

20

Pagination

e3001728-e3001728

Location

United States

ISSN

1544-9173

eISSN

1545-7885

Language

en

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Editor/Contributor(s)

Sugden B

Issue

8

Publisher

Public Library of Science (PLoS)

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