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The Omicron subvariant BA.2 has become the dominant circulating strain of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in many countries. Here, we have characterized structural, functional and antigenic properties of the full-length BA.2 spike (S) protein and compared replication of the authentic virus in cell culture and an animal model with previously prevalent variants. BA.2 S can fuse membranes slightly more efficiently than Omicron BA.1, but still less efficiently than other previous variants. Both BA.1 and BA.2 viruses replicated substantially faster in animal lungs than the early G614 (B.1) strain in the absence of pre-existing immunity, possibly explaining the increased transmissibility despite their functionally compromised spikes. As in BA.1, mutations in the BA.2 S remodel its antigenic surfaces, leading to strong resistance to neutralizing antibodies. These results suggest that both immune evasion and replicative advantage may contribute to the heightened transmissibility of the Omicron subvariants.

Accumulation of β-amyloid (Aβ) and resultant inflammation are critical pathological features of Alzheimer disease (AD). Microglia, a primary immune cell in brain, ingests and degrades extracellular Aβ fibrils via the lysosomal system. Autophagy is a catabolic process that degrades native cellular components, however, the role of autophagy in Aβ degradation by microglia and its effects on AD are unknown. Here we demonstrate a novel role for autophagy in the clearance of extracellular Aβ fibrils by microglia and in the regulation of the Aβ-induced NLRP3 (NLR family, pyrin domain containing 3) inflammasome using microglia specific atg7knockout mice and cell cultures. We found in microglial cultures that Aβ interacts with MAP1LC3B-II via OPTN/optineurin and is degraded by an autophagic process mediated by the PRKAA1 pathway. We anticipate that enhancing microglial autophagy may be a promising new therapeutic strategy for AD.

Natural killer (NK) cells have gained considerable attention as promising therapeutic tools for cancer therapy due to their innate selectivity against cancer cells over normal healthy cells. With an array of receptors evolved to sense cellular alterations, NK cells provide early protection against cancer cells by producing cytokines and chemokines and exerting direct cytolytic activity. These effector functions are governed by signals transmitted through multiple receptor–ligand interactions but are not achieved by engaging a single activating receptor on resting NK cells. Rather, they require the co-engagement of different activating receptors that use distinct signaling modules, due to a cell-intrinsic inhibition mechanism. The redundancy of synergizing receptors and the inhibition of NK cell function by a single class of inhibitory receptor suggest the presence of common checkpoints to control NK cell activation through different receptors. These molecular checkpoints would be therapeutically targeted to harness the power of NK cells against diverse cancer cells that express heterogeneous ligands for NK cell receptors. Recent advances in understanding the activation of NK cells have revealed promising candidates in this category. Targeting such molecular checkpoints will facilitate NK cell activation by lowering activation thresholds, thereby providing therapeutic strategies that optimize NK cell reactivity against cancer.