The antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 Beta underscores the antigenic distance to other variants

Chang Liu, Daming Zhou, Rungtiwa Nutalai, Helen M.E. Duyvesteyn, Aekkachai Tuekprakhon, Helen M. Ginn, Wanwisa Dejnirattisai, Piyada Supasa, Alexander J. Mentzer, Beibei Wang, James Brett Case, Yuguang Zhao, Donal T. Skelly, Rita E. Chen, Sile Ann Johnson, Thomas G. Ritter, Chris Mason, Tariq Malik, Nigel Temperton, Neil G. PatersonMark A. Williams, David R. Hall, Daniel K. Clare, Andrew Howe, Philip J.R. Goulder, Elizabeth E. Fry, Michael S. Diamond, Juthathip Mongkolsapaya*, Jingshan Ren*, David I. Stuart*, Gavin R. Screaton*

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Alpha-B.1.1.7, Beta-B.1.351, Gamma-P.1, and Delta-B.1.617.2 variants of SARS-CoV-2 express multiple mutations in the spike protein (S). These may alter the antigenic structure of S, causing escape from natural or vaccine-induced immunity. Beta is particularly difficult to neutralize using serum induced by early pandemic SARS-CoV-2 strains and is most antigenically separated from Delta. To understand this, we generated 674 mAbs from Beta-infected individuals and performed a detailed structure-function analysis of the 27 most potent mAbs: one binding the spike N-terminal domain (NTD), the rest the receptor-binding domain (RBD). Two of these RBD-binding mAbs recognize a neutralizing epitope conserved between SARS-CoV-1 and -2, while 18 target mutated residues in Beta: K417N, E484K, and N501Y. There is a major response to N501Y, including a public IgVH4-39 sequence, with E484K and K417N also targeted. Recognition of these key residues underscores why serum from Beta cases poorly neutralizes early pandemic and Delta viruses.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)53-68.e12
Number of pages29
JournalCell Host and Microbe
Volume30
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 12 Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information: This work was supported by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) Innovation Fund for Medical Science (CIFMS), China (grant number: 2018-I2M-2-002) to D.I.S. and G.R.S.; H.M.E.D. and J.R. are supported by the Wellcome Trust (101122/Z/13/Z), D.I.S. and E.E.F. by the UKRI MRC (MR/N00065X/1), J.B.C. by a Helen Hay Whitney Foundation postdoctoral fellowship, and M.S.D. by NIH (R01 AI157155) and the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (HR001117S0019). D.I.S. and G.R.S. are Jenner Investigators. A.J.M. and D.T.S. are NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturers. We are also grateful for support from Schmidt Futures, the Red Avenue Foundation and the Oak Foundation. This is a contribution from the UK Instruct-ERIC Centre. The Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics is supported by the Wellcome Trust (grant 090532/Z/09/Z). Virus used for the neutralization assays was isolated by J.D. Doherty Centre, Melbourne, Australia. We acknowledge the rapid sharing of Victoria, Alpha, and Beta, which was isolated by scientists within the National Infection Service at PHE Porton Down, and Delta and B.1.525 viruses were kindly provided by W.B. and T.d.S. from the genotype to phenotype consortium G2P-UK. We thank the Secretariat of National Surveillance, Ministry of Health Brazil for assistance in obtaining Gamma virus. We acknowledge Diamond Light Source (DLS) for use of beamline I03 under Proposal lb27009 (COVID-19 Rapid Access). Huge thanks to teams at the DLS and Department of Structural Biology, Oxford University that have enabled work to continue during the pandemic. Electron microscopy experiments were conducted at both eBIC and the Oxford Particle Imaging Centre (OPIC) Electron Microscopy Facility. The computational aspects of this research were supported by the Wellcome Trust Core Award grant number 203141/Z/16/Z and the NIHR Oxford BRC. We thank the Oxford Protective T-cell Immunology COVID-19 (OPTIC) Clinical team for participant sample collection and the Oxford Immunology Network Covid-19 Response T cell Consortium for laboratory support. This work was supported by the UK Department of Health & Social Care as part of the PITCH (Protective Immunity from T cells to Covid-19 in Health workers) Consortium, the UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium (UK-CIC) and the Hyde Family Foundation.
M.S.D. is a consultant for Inbios, Vir Biotechnology, NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Carnival Corporation, and on the Scientific Advisory Boards of Moderna and Immunome. The M.S.D. laboratory has received unrelated funding support in sponsored research agreements from Moderna, Vir Biotechnology, and Emergent BioSolutions. G.R.S. sits on the GSK Vaccines Scientific Advisory Board and is a founder member of RQ Biotechnology. The University of Oxford has protected intellectual property disclosed in this publication.

Open Access: This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc.

Citation: Chang Liu, Daming Zhou, Rungtiwa Nutalai, Helen M.E. Duyvesteyn, Aekkachai Tuekprakhon, Helen M. Ginn, Wanwisa Dejnirattisai, Piyada Supasa, Alexander J. Mentzer, Beibei Wang, James Brett Case, Yuguang Zhao, Donal T. Skelly, Rita E. Chen, Sile Ann Johnson, Thomas G. Ritter, Chris Mason, Tariq Malik, Nigel Temperton, Neil G. Paterson, Mark A. Williams, David R. Hall, Daniel K. Clare, Andrew Howe, Philip J.R. Goulder, Elizabeth E. Fry, Michael S. Diamond, Juthathip Mongkolsapaya, Jingshan Ren, David I. Stuart, Gavin R. Screaton,
The antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 Beta underscores the antigenic distance to other variants, Cell Host & Microbe, Volume 30, Issue 1, 2022, Pages 53-68.e12, ISSN 1931-3128, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2021.11.013.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2021.11.013

Keywords

  • Beta variant
  • COVID-19
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • antibody
  • immune responses
  • neutralization
  • receptor-binding domain
  • spike protein
  • structure
  • vaccine

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