Cell fusion of A549-S (SARS-CoV-2-Spike expressing A549 cells) and A549-ACE2 (ACE2 expressing A549 cells) at 4 hour and 48 hour

A distinctive feature of the SARS-CoV-2-Spike is its ability to efficiently mediate the fusion of virus with host cells and the formation of multinucleated giant cells. The syncytia formed by fusion of the cells expressing SARS-CoV-2-Spike was reported to undergo pyroptosis or apoptosis. Here in this study, with the goal of exploring the fate and mechanism of SARS-CoV-2-Spike induced syncytia, we cocultured the SARS-CoV-2-Spike expressing A549 cells (A549-S) with ACE2 expressing A549 cells (A549-ACE2) at a 1:1 ratio, and RNA-sequencing experiments were performed at 4h and 48h.