{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]],"date-time":"2026-01-23T17:37:50Z","timestamp":1769189870388,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":67,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,13]],"date-time":"2022-04-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1649808000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003977","name":"Israel Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["755\/17"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["755\/17"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003977","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Ministry of Science and Technology , Israel","award":["3-16897"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["3-16897"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Enhanced viral transmission and escape from vaccine\u2013elicited neutralizing antibodies drive worldwide spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants and promote disease progression. However, the impact of specific spike mutations that are carried by different viral variants on viral infectivity and neutralization sensitivity has not been completely defined. Here, we use pseudoviruses to assess the contribution of spike mutations within the Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) and the Furin Cleavage Site (FCS), and appear in circulating viral variants, on viral infectivity and neutralization potential against sera that was drawn from fully vaccinated individuals. Our functional analysis demonstrates that single, P681H, P681R or A701V\u2013FCS mutations do not play a role in viral infectivity and neutralization potential. However, when in conjunction with the RBD\u2013N501Y mutation, viral infectivity is enhanced. Similarly, combining the E484K\u2013RBD mutation to the spike that carries FCS mutations reduces neutralization sensitivity with no effects on viral infectivity. Employing a similar approach onto the spike from Delta or Lota SARS-CoV-2 variants further reveals that specific RBD mutations affect neutralization sensitivity or viral infectivity differently. Our results validate the efficacy of the Pfizer third dose vaccine against Delta and Lota SARS-CoV-2 variants, and outline the significance of distinct RBD mutations in promoting viral infectivity and neutralization sensitivity to post\u2013vaccination sera.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v14040803","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,13]],"date-time":"2022-04-13T23:07:16Z","timestamp":1649891236000},"page":"803","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Functional Analysis of Spike from SARS-CoV-2 Variants Reveals the Role of Distinct Mutations in Neutralization Potential and Viral Infectivity"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Alona","family":"Kuzmina","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology Immunology and Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5199-0441","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Seraj","family":"Wattad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology Immunology and Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Stanislav","family":"Engel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elli","family":"Rosenberg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Soroka Medical Center, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2062-4537","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ran","family":"Taube","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology Immunology and Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"270","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-020-2012-7","article-title":"A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin","volume":"579","author":"Zhou","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"727","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa2001017","article-title":"A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019","volume":"382","author":"Zhu","year":"2020","journal-title":"N. 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