NRP1 and acute respiratory distress syndrome: To assess whether preferential usage of neuropilin-1 at the cell surface by BA.1 Spike may explain the increased adherence of BA.1 to nasal cell epithelia and adoption of a unique entry pathway, we tested the impact of the neuropilin-1 inhibitor EG00229 on nasal ALI infection by WA1 (WA1 Spike), WA1 (Delta Spike), and WA1 (BA.1 Spike).