February 4, 2021

Impact of the B.1.1.7 Variant on Neutralizing Monoclonal Antibodies Recognizing Diverse Epitopes on SARS-CoV-2 Spike

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Vaccines and Immunity

Keywords (Tags): immunity, variants

[Pre-print, not peer reviewed] The SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant (first identified in the UK) was shown to reduce neutralizing activity of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting subdominant epitopes in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. In particular, the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant reduced neutralizing activity of mAbs specific to the N-terminal domain (NTD) by up to 16-fold. NTD-specific mAbs consisted of roughly a third of mAbs isolated from three convalescent donors and only 29% of NTD-specific mAbs showed neutralizing activity. In contrast, only small reductions in neutralization by mAbs specific to the dominant epitope receptor-binding domain (RBD) were observed.

Muir et al. (Feb 3, 2021). Impact of the B.1.1.7 Variant on Neutralizing Monoclonal Antibodies Recognizing Diverse Epitopes on SARS-CoV-2 Spike. Pre-print downloaded Feb 4 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.02.03.429355