In addition to fusion of viral and host cell membranes, some coronavirus spike proteins can initiate membrane fusion between infected cells and neighboring cells, forming syncytia. This behavior can be observed in infected cells in cell culture. Syncytia have been observed in patient tissue samples from infections with SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2, though some reports highlight a difference in syncytia formation between the SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 spikes attributed to sequence differences near the S1/S2 cleavage site.
