Reduced neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant by convalescent and vaccine sera

P. Supasa, Daming Zhou, W. Dejnirattisai, Chang Liu, A. Mentzer, H. Ginn, Yuguang Zhao, Helen M. E. Duyvesteyn, Rungtiwa Nutalai, Aekkachai Tuekprakhon, Beibei Wang, G. Paesen, J. Slon-Campos, C. López-Camacho, B. Hallis, N. Coombes, K. Bewley, S. Charlton, T. Walter, E. Barnes, S. Dunachie, D. Skelly, S. Lumley, Natalie Baker, Imam H Shaik, H. Humphries, K. Godwin, N. Gent, A. Sienkiewicz, C. Dold#, R. Levin, T. Dong, A. Pollard, J. Knight, P. Klenerman, D. Crook, T. Lambe, E. Clutterbuck, S. Bibi, A. Flaxman, M. Bittaye, S. Belij-Rammerstorfer, S. Gilbert, D. Hall, Mark A. Williams, N. Paterson, W. James, M. Carroll, E. Fry, J. Mongkolsapaya, Jingshan Ren, D. Stuart, G. Screaton

Cell, 2021

SARS-CoV-2 has caused over 2M deaths in little over a year. Vaccines are being deployed at scale, aiming to generate responses against the virus spike. The scale of the pandemic and error-prone virus replication is leading to the appearance of mutant viruses and potentially escape from antibody responses. Variant B.1.1.7, now dominant in the UK, with increased transmission, harbours 9 amino-acid changes in the spike, including N501Y in the ACE2 interacting-surface. We examine the ability of B.1.1.7 to evade antibody responses elicited by natural SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination. We map the impact of N501Y by structure/function analysis of a large panel of well-characterised monoclonal antibodies. B.1.1.7 is harder to neutralize than parental virus, compromising neutralization by some members of a major class of public antibodies through light chain contacts with residue 501. However, widespread escape from monoclonal antibodies or antibody responses generated by natural infection or vaccination was not observed.

Cited by 117 publications.

Field of study: Medicine

10.1016/j.cell.2021.02.033