scholarly journals Vaccine monitoring shows that focused immunization with SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain provides a better neutralizing antibody response than full-length spike protein

Author(s):  
Rafael Bayarri-Olmos ◽  
Manja Idorn ◽  
Anne Rosbjerg ◽  
Laura Pérez-Alós ◽  
Cecilie Hansen ◽  
...  

Abstract Effective tools to monitor SARS-CoV-2 transmission and humoral immune responses are highly needed. Protective humoral immunity involves neutralizing antibodies and will be a hallmark for the evaluation of a vaccine response efficacy. Here we present a sensitive, fast and simple neutralization ELISA method to determine the levels of antibody-mediated virus neutralization. We can show that it is strongly correlated with the more elaborate plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) (ρ = 0.9231, p < 0.0001). Furthermore, we present pre-clinical vaccine models using recombinant receptor binding domain (RBD) and full-length spike antigen as immunogens showing a profound antibody neutralization capacity that exceeds the highest neutralization titers from convalescent individuals. Using a panel of novel high-affinity murine monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) we also show that majority of the RBD-raised mAbs have inhibitory properties while only a few of the spike-raised mAbs do. In conclusion, the ELISA-based viral neutralization test offers a time- and cost-effective alternative to the PRNT. The immunization results indicate that vaccine strategies focused only on the RBD region may have major advantages over those based on the full spike sequence.

Author(s):  
Tara L. Steffen ◽  
E. Taylor Stone ◽  
Mariah Hassert ◽  
Elizabeth Geerling ◽  
Brian T. Grimberg ◽  
...  

AbstractNatural infection of SARS-CoV-2 in humans leads to the development of a strong neutralizing antibody response, however the immunodominant targets of the polyclonal neutralizing antibody response are still unknown. Here, we functionally define the role SARS-CoV-2 spike plays as a target of the human neutralizing antibody response. In this study, we identify the spike protein subunits that contain antigenic determinants and examine the neutralization capacity of polyclonal sera from a cohort of patients that tested qRT-PCR-positive for SARS-CoV-2. Using an ELISA format, we assessed binding of human sera to spike subunit 1 (S1), spike subunit 2 (S2) and the receptor binding domain (RBD) of spike. To functionally identify the key target of neutralizing antibody, we depleted sera of subunit-specific antibodies to determine the contribution of these individual subunits to the antigen-specific neutralizing antibody response. We show that epitopes within RBD are the target of a majority of the neutralizing antibodies in the human polyclonal antibody response. These data provide critical information for vaccine development and development of sensitive and specific serological testing.


Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1383
Author(s):  
Juan Shi ◽  
Xiaoxiao Jin ◽  
Yan Ding ◽  
Xiaotao Liu ◽  
Anran Shen ◽  
...  

Multiple variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) have spread around the world, but the neutralizing effects of antibodies induced by the existing vaccines have declined, which highlights the importance of developing vaccines against mutant virus strains. In this study, nine receptor-binding domain (RBD) proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 variants (B.1.1.7, B.1.351 and P.1 lineages) were constructed and fused with the Fc fragment of human IgG (RBD-Fc). These RBD-Fc proteins contained single or multiple amino acid substitutions at prevalent mutation points of spike protein, which enabled them to bind strongly to the polyclonal antibodies specific for wild-type RBD and to the recombinant human ACE2 protein. In the BALB/c, mice were immunized with the wild-type RBD-Fc protein first and boosted twice with the indicated mutant RBD-Fc proteins later. All mutant RBD-Fc proteins elicited high-level IgG antibodies and cross-neutralizing antibodies. The RBD-Fc proteins with multiple substitutions tended to induce higher antibody titers and neutralizing-antibody titers than the single-mutant RBD-Fc proteins. Meanwhile, both wild-type RBD-Fc protein and mutant RBD-Fc proteins induced significantly decreased neutralization capacity to the pseudovirus of B.1.351 and P.1 lineages than to the wild-type one. These data will facilitate the design and development of RBD-based subunit vaccines against SARS-COV-2 and its variants.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blake M. Hauser ◽  
Maya Sangesland ◽  
Evan C. Lam ◽  
Jared Feldman ◽  
Ashraf S. Yousif ◽  
...  

AbstractEffective countermeasures are needed against emerging coronaviruses of pandemic potential, similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Designing immunogens that elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies to conserved viral epitopes on the major surface glycoprotein, spike, such as the receptor binding domain (RBD) is one potential approach. Here, we report the generation of homotrimeric RBD immunogens from different sarbecoviruses using a stabilized, immune-silent trimerization tag. We find that that a cocktail of homotrimeric sarbecovirus RBDs can elicit a neutralizing response to all components even in context of prior SARS-CoV-2 imprinting. Importantly, the cross-neutralizing antibody responses are focused towards conserved RBD epitopes outside of the ACE-2 receptor-binding motif. This may be an effective strategy for eliciting broadly neutralizing responses leading to a pan-sarbecovirus vaccine.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria G. Noval ◽  
Maria E. Kaczmarek ◽  
Akiko Koide ◽  
Bruno A. Rodriguez-Rodriguez ◽  
Ping Louie ◽  
...  

AbstractUnderstanding antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 is indispensable for the development of containment measures to overcome the current COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we determine the ability of sera from 101 recovered healthcare workers to neutralize both authentic SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-2 pseudotyped virus and address their antibody titers against SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein and spike receptor-binding domain. Interestingly, the majority of individuals have low neutralization capacity and only 6% of the healthcare workers showed high neutralizing titers against both authentic SARS-CoV-2 virus and the pseudotyped virus. We found the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 infection generates antigen-specific isotypes as well as a diverse combination of antibody isotypes, with high titers of IgG, IgM and IgA against both antigens correlating with neutralization capacity. Importantly, we found that neutralization correlated with antibody titers as quantified by ELISA. This suggests that an ELISA assay can be used to determine seroneutralization potential. Altogether, our work provides a snapshot of the SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody response in recovered healthcare workers and provides evidence that possessing multiple antibody isotypes may play an important role in SARS-CoV-2 neutralization.


Author(s):  
Amanda Haymond ◽  
Abdulla A Damluji ◽  
Aarthi Narayanan ◽  
Claudius Mueller ◽  
Alex Reeder ◽  
...  

Abstract A cohort consisting of asymptomatic healthcare workers donated temporal serum samples after infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Analysis shows that all asymptomatic healthcare workers had neutralizing antibodies, that these antibodies persist for ≥60 days, and that anti-spike receptor-binding domain immunoglobulin G levels were correspondingly durable over the same time period.


Author(s):  
Xing Zhu ◽  
Dhiraj Mannar ◽  
Shanti S. Srivastava ◽  
Alison M. Berezuk ◽  
Jean-Philippe Demers ◽  
...  

AbstractThe recently reported “UK variant” of SARS-CoV-2 is thought to be more infectious than previously circulating strains as a result of several changes, including the N501Y mutation. We present a 2.9-Å resolution cryo-EM structure of the complex between the ACE2 receptor and N501Y spike protein ectodomains that shows Y501 inserted into a cavity at the binding interface near Y41 of ACE2. The additional interactions result in increased affinity of ACE2 for the N501Y mutant, accounting for its increased infectivity. However, this mutation does not result in large structural changes, enabling important neutralization epitopes to be retained in the spike receptor binding domain. We confirmed this through biophysical assays and by determining cryo-EM structures of spike protein ectodomains bound to two representative potent neutralizing antibody fragments.Short summaryThe N501Y mutation found in the coronavirus UK variant increases infectivity but some neutralizing antibodies can still bind.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuelle Billon-Denis ◽  
Audrey Ferrier-Rembert ◽  
Annabelle Garnier ◽  
Laurence Cheutin ◽  
Clarisse Vigne ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundWe report here the case of two coworkers infected by the same SARS-CoV-2 strain, presenting two different immunological outcomes. CaseOne patient presented a strong IgG anti-receptor-binding domain immune response correlated with a low and rapidly decreasing titer of neutralizing antibodies. The other patient had similar strong IgG anti-receptor-binding domain immune response but high neutralizing antibody titers. Discussion and ConclusionThus, host individual factors may be the main drivers of the immune response varying with age and clinical severity.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler N Starr ◽  
Nadine Czudnochowski ◽  
Fabrizia Zatta ◽  
Young-Jun Park ◽  
Zhuoming Liu ◽  
...  

An ideal anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody would resist viral escape, have activity against diverse SARS-related coronaviruses, and be highly protective through viral neutralization and effector functions. Understanding how these properties relate to each other and vary across epitopes would aid development of antibody therapeutics and guide vaccine design. Here, we comprehensively characterize escape, breadth, and potency across a panel of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies targeting the receptor-binding domain (RBD), including S309, the parental antibody of the late-stage clinical antibody VIR-7831. We observe a tradeoff between SARS-CoV-2 in vitro neutralization potency and breadth of binding across SARS-related coronaviruses. Nevertheless, we identify several neutralizing antibodies with exceptional breadth and resistance to escape, including a new antibody (S2H97) that binds with high affinity to all SARS-related coronavirus clades via a unique RBD epitope centered on residue E516. S2H97 and other escape-resistant antibodies have high binding affinity and target functionally constrained RBD residues. We find that antibodies targeting the ACE2 receptor binding motif (RBM) typically have poor breadth and are readily escaped by mutations despite high neutralization potency, but we identify one potent RBM antibody (S2E12) with breadth across sarbecoviruses closely related to SARS-CoV-2 and with a high barrier to viral escape. These data highlight functional diversity among antibodies targeting the RBD and identify epitopes and features to prioritize for antibody and vaccine development against the current and potential future pandemics.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farha Mehdi ◽  
Souvick Chattopadhyay ◽  
Ramachandran Thiruvengadam ◽  
Sarla Yadav ◽  
Manjit Kumar ◽  
...  

SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection assays are crucial for gathering seroepidemiological information and monitoring the sustainability of antibody response against the virus. The SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein’s receptor-binding domain (RBD) is a very specific target for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies detection. Moreover, many neutralizing antibodies are mapped to this domain, linking antibody response to RBD with neutralizing potential. Detection of IgG antibodies, rather than IgM or total antibodies, against RBD is likely to play a larger role in understanding antibody-mediated protection and vaccine response. Here we describe a rapid and stable RBD-based IgG ELISA test obtained through extensive optimization of the assay components and conditions. The test showed a specificity of 99.79% (95% CI: 98.82–99.99%) in a panel of pre-pandemic samples (n = 470) from different groups, i.e., pregnancy, fever, HCV, HBV, and autoantibodies positive. Test sensitivity was evaluated using sera from SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR positive individuals (n = 312) and found to be 53.33% (95% CI: 37.87–68.34%), 80.47% (95% CI: 72.53–86.94%), and 88.24% (95% CI: 82.05–92.88%) in panel 1 (days 0–13), panel 2 (days 14–20) and panel 3 (days 21–27), respectively. Higher sensitivity was achieved in symptomatic individuals and reached 92.14% (95% CI: 86.38–96.01%) for panel 3. Our test, with a shorter runtime, showed higher sensitivity than parallelly tested commercial ELISAs for SARS-CoV-2-IgG, i.e., Euroimmun and Zydus, even when equivocal results in the commercial ELISAs were considered positive. None of the tests, which are using different antigens, could detect anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgGs in 10.5% RT-PCR positive individuals by the fourth week, suggesting the lack of IgG response.


Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea N. Loes ◽  
Lauren E. Gentles ◽  
Allison J. Greaney ◽  
Katharine H. D. Crawford ◽  
Jesse D. Bloom

An effective vaccine is essential for controlling the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Here, we describe an influenza virus-based vaccine for SARS-CoV-2. We incorporated a membrane-anchored form of the SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor binding domain (RBD) in place of the neuraminidase (NA) coding sequence in an influenza virus also possessing a mutation that reduces the affinity of hemagglutinin for its sialic acid receptor. The resulting ΔNA(RBD)-Flu virus can be generated by reverse genetics and grown to high titers in cell culture. A single-dose intranasal inoculation of mice with ΔNA(RBD)-Flu elicits serum neutralizing antibody titers against SAR-CoV-2 comparable to those observed in humans following natural infection (~1:200). Furthermore, ΔNA(RBD)-Flu itself causes no apparent disease in mice. It might be possible to produce a vaccine similar to ΔNA(RBD)-Flu at scale by leveraging existing platforms for the production of influenza vaccines.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document