Small animal models are of crucial importance for assessing COVID-19 countermeasures. Common laboratory mice would be well-suited for this purpose but are not susceptible to infection with wild-type SARS-CoV-2. However, the development of mouse-adapted virus strains has revealed key mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that increase infectivity, and interestingly, many of these mutations are also present in naturally occurring SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. This suggests that these variants might have the ability to infect common laboratory mice. Herein we show that the SARS-CoV-2 beta variant attains infectibility to BALB/c mice and causes pulmonary changes within 2–3 days post infection, consistent with results seen in other murine models of COVID-19, at a reasonable virus dose (2 × 10 5 PFU). The findings suggest that common laboratory mice can serve as the animal model of choice for testing the effectiveness of antiviral drugs and vaccines against SARS-CoV-2.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV2, infections, SARS-CoV-2 variants, SARS-CoV-2 beta variants, laboratory mice, common laboratory mice, 【초록키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, Vaccine, Mutation, antiviral drugs, variant, SARS-CoV-2 variant, Infection, animal model, virus, Spike protein, antiviral drug, Laboratory, mice, SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, Effectiveness, Beta, murine model, Beta variant, change, dose, choice, wild-type SARS-CoV-2, BALB/c mice, infectibility, post infection, virus strain, infect, susceptible, common, cause, days post infection, the SARS-CoV-2, 【제목키워드】 common, the SARS-CoV-2,