{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T20:32:06Z","timestamp":1793133126956,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"American Society for Microbiology","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]],"date-time":"2026-09-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790035200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]],"date-time":"2026-09-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790035200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/non-commercial-tdm-license"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100018696","name":"HORIZON EUROPE Health","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["101057100\/HORIZON-HLTH-2021-DISEASE-04 UNDINE"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["101057100\/HORIZON-HLTH-2021-DISEASE-04 UNDINE"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100018696","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100010570","name":"Nieders\u00e4chsisches Ministerium f\u00fcr Wissenschaft und Kultur","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["COFONI 14-76403-184 projects 7FF22 6FF22 10FF22"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["COFONI 14-76403-184 projects 7FF22 6FF22 10FF22"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100010570","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100018696","name":"HORIZON EUROPE Health","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["VIGILANT project (Grant Agreement No. 101191811)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["VIGILANT project (Grant Agreement No. 101191811)"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100018696","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100009139","name":"Deutsches Zentrum f\u00fcr Infektionsforschung","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["TTU 01.829"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TTU 01.829"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100009139","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.asm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Virol"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title\/>\n                    <jats:p>The furin motif in the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein is important for lung cell entry. It is embedded in an extended loop structure and preceded by a highly conserved QTQTX motif that is required for efficient furin cleavage of the SARS-CoV-2 WA-1 S protein. BA.3.2 is an emerging SARS-CoV-2 saltation variant that is spreading globally in April 2026 and encodes a highly mutated S protein. Here, we analyzed whether the QTQTX motif is also required for spike protein cleavage and lung cell entry of BA.3.2. We report that two patient-derived spike sequences of the BA.3.2 subvariant BA.3.2.2 lack the first QT repeat of the QTQTX motif and show that this motif is largely dispensable for both cleavage and lung cell entry of BA.3.2.2, which we found to depend on TMPRSS2. Our results suggest that the reconfiguration of the BA.3.2 S protein during persistent infection may have significantly altered the determinants of furin cleavage.<\/jats:p>\n                    <jats:sec>\n                      <jats:title>IMPORTANCE<\/jats:title>\n                      <jats:p>The furin motif in the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein is unique among sarbecoviruses and constitutes a virulence determinant. A QTQTX motif located immediately upstream of the furin motif is required for furin cleavage of the S protein of the virus that circulated early in the pandemic. Here, we show that the QTQTX motif is largely dispensable for S protein processing and S protein-driven lung cell entry of the emerging saltation variant BA.3.2, which is currently spreading globally. Thus, BA.3.2 evolution within immunocompromised individuals may have relaxed the requirements for furin processing of the spike protein.<\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:sec>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1128\/jvi.00691-26","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T13:00:18Z","timestamp":1785934818000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/asmj-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The conserved QTQTX motif in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is dispensable for cleavage and lung cell entry of the emerging variant BA.3.2"],"prefix":"10.1128","volume":"100","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1193-4429","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lu","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02f99v835","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Infection Biology Unit, German Primate Center \u2013 Leibniz Institute for Primate Research","place":["G\u00f6ttingen, Germany"]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01y9bpm73","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Faculty of Biology and Psychology, Georg-August University G\u00f6ttingen","place":["G\u00f6ttingen, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nianzhen","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02f99v835","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Infection Biology Unit, German Primate Center \u2013 Leibniz Institute for Primate Research","place":["G\u00f6ttingen, Germany"]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01y9bpm73","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Faculty of Biology and Psychology, Georg-August University G\u00f6ttingen","place":["G\u00f6ttingen, Germany"]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/032000t02","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Institute of Molecular Virology, Ulm University Medical Center","place":["Ulm, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amy","family":"Eichmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02f99v835","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Infection Biology Unit, German Primate Center \u2013 Leibniz Institute for Primate Research","place":["G\u00f6ttingen, Germany"]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01y9bpm73","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Faculty of Biology and Psychology, Georg-August University G\u00f6ttingen","place":["G\u00f6ttingen, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Inga","family":"Nehlmeier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02f99v835","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Infection Biology Unit, German Primate Center \u2013 Leibniz Institute for Primate Research","place":["G\u00f6ttingen, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ryan","family":"Hisner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03p74gp79","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Division of Computational Biology, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town","place":["Cape Town, South Africa"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christine","family":"Happle","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00f2yqf98","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department for Rheumatology and Immunology, Hannover Medical School","place":["Hannover, Germany"]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03dx11k66","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"German Centre for Lung Research (DZL), partner site Hannover BREATH","place":["Hannover, Germany"]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/028s4q594","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), partner site Hannover-Braunschweig","place":["Hannover, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Georg M. 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