{"doi":"10.1182/blood.2022018903","title":"Blood group A enhances SARS-CoV-2 infection","abstract":"Among the risk factors for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), ABO(H) blood group antigens are among the most recognized predictors of infection. However, the mechanisms by which ABO(H) antigens influence susceptibility to COVID-19 remain incompletely understood. The receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2, which facilitates host cell engagement, bears significant similarity to galectins, an ancient family of carbohydrate-binding proteins. Because ABO(H) blood group antigens are carbohydrates, we compared the glycan-binding specificity of SARS-CoV-2 RBD with that of galectins. Similar to the binding profile of several galectins, the RBDs of SARS-CoV-2, including Delta and Omicron variants, exhibited specificity for blood group A. Not only did each RBD recognize blood group A in a glycan array format, but each SARS-CoV-2 virus also displayed a preferential ability to infect blood group A-expressing cells. Preincubation of blood group A cells with a blood group-binding galectin specifically inhibited the blood group A enhancement of SARS-CoV-2 infection, whereas similar incubation with a galectin that does not recognize blood group antigens failed to impact SARS-CoV-2 infection. These results demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 can engage blood group A, providing a direct link between ABO(H) blood group expression and SARS-CoV-2 infection.","journal":"Blood","year":2023,"id":320792,"datarank":1.0283169392859617,"base_score":3.8918202981106265,"endowment":3.8918202981106265,"self_citation_contribution":0.5837730447165941,"citation_network_contribution":0.4445438945693675,"self_endowment_contribution":0.5837730447165941,"citer_contribution":0.4445438945693675,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":48,"citer_count":39,"citers_with_citation_signal":21,"citers_with_endowment":21,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9627,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2023-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":226163,"name":"Connie M. Arthur","orcid":"0009-0006-9246-7231","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":897836,"name":"Hau-Ming Jan","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":108251,"name":"Wilfredo F. García-Beltrán","orcid":"0000-0002-7109-0504","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":368752,"name":"Kashyap Patel","orcid":"0000-0001-8039-3972","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":897835,"name":"Matthew F. Rathgeber","orcid":null,"position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":226159,"name":"Hans Verkerke","orcid":"0000-0002-5152-0095","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":558767,"name":"Narayanaiah Cheedarla","orcid":"0000-0001-6072-4383","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":402920,"name":"Ryan Philip Jajosky","orcid":"0000-0001-8458-7635","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":700989,"name":"Anu Paul","orcid":"0000-0003-2479-8398","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":226168,"name":"Andrew S. Neish","orcid":"0000-0002-7090-0237","position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":226173,"name":"John D. Roback","orcid":"0000-0001-9952-2252","position":11,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":539368,"name":"Cassandra D. Josephson","orcid":"0000-0003-2543-991X","position":12,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":106756,"name":"Duane R. Wesemann","orcid":"0000-0002-6690-944X","position":13,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":630586,"name":"Daniel Kalman","orcid":"0000-0003-0693-2928","position":14,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":573788,"name":"Seth Rakoff-Nahoum","orcid":"0000-0002-3233-0675","position":15,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":231529,"name":"Richard D. Cummings","orcid":"0000-0002-8918-5034","position":16,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":226169,"name":"Sean R. Stowell","orcid":"0000-0002-1130-9551","position":17,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":693546,"name":"Shang‐Chuen Wu","orcid":"0000-0002-5284-5596","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":24,"raw_metadata":{"citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-07-19T01:07:27.434133Z","pmid":"37367252","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}