March 5, 2021

Resistance of SARS-CoV-2 Variants to Neutralization by Monoclonal and Serum-Derived Polyclonal Antibodies

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Vaccines and Immunity

Keywords (Tags): antibodies, immunity, variants

• Most convalescent sera from people who had recovered from mild COVID-19 (n=29) and virtually all Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine-induced immune sera (n=24) were shown to have diminished neutralizing activity against engineered SARS-CoV-2 strains including a chimeric strain combining a strain identified in Washington state with a B.1.351 spike gene (Wash SA-B.1.351 strain), or recombinant viruses containing mutations at position 484 and 501. Several highly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) lost inhibitory activity against Wash SA-B.1.351 or recombinant variants with an E484K spike mutation. The authors note that targeting of highly conserved regions, enhancement of mAb potency, or adjustments to the spike sequences of vaccines may be needed to prevent loss of protection in vivo. [EDITORIAL NOTE: A Pre-print related to this manuscript was summarized on January 17, 2021]

Chen et al. (Mar 4, 2021). Resistance of SARS-CoV-2 Variants to Neutralization by Monoclonal and Serum-Derived Polyclonal Antibodies. Nature Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01294-w