Figure 4.

The potential consequences of syncytia formation on SARS-CoV-2 pathology. Center: Cells infected with SARS-CoV-2 express the spike protein at the surface and form large multinucleated syncytia. Top left: The process of syncytial death via apoptosis or pyroptosis can release virus to infect neighbouring cells and/or trigger an inflammatory response. Top right: Infected syncytia can lift off to contribute to viral dissemination and the overall infectious dose. Bottom left: Syncytial cells can target lymphocytes for cell-in-cell mediated death. Bottom right: Syncytia can facilitate cell-to-cell spread of the virus and shield the virus from neutralizing antibodies.