Naveenchandra Suryadevara, Swathi Shrihari, P. Gilchuk, L. VanBlargan, E. Binshtein, Seth J. Zost, Rachel S. Nargi, Rachel E. Sutton, Emma S. Winkler, Elaine C. Chen, Mallorie E. Fouch, E. Davidson, B. Doranz, R. Carnahan, L. Thackray, M. Diamond, J. Crowe
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2021
Most human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 recognize the spike (S) protein receptor-binding domain and block virus interactions with the cellular receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2. We describe a panel of human mAbs binding to diverse epitopes on the N-terminal domain (NTD) of S protein from SARS-CoV-2 convalescent donors and found a minority of these possessed neutralizing activity. Two mAbs (COV2-2676 and COV2-2489) inhibited infection of authentic SARS-CoV-2 and recombinant VSV/SARS-CoV-2 viruses. We mapped their binding epitopes by alanine-scanning mutagenesis and selection of functional SARS-CoV-2 S neutralization escape variants. Mechanistic studies showed that these antibodies neutralize in part by inhibiting a post-attachment step in the infection cycle. COV2-2676 and COV2-2489 offered protection either as prophylaxis or therapy, and Fc effector functions were required for optimal protection. Thus, natural infection induces a subset of potent NTD-specific mAbs that leverage neutralizing and Fc-mediated activities to protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection using multiple functional attributes.
Cited by 48 publications.
Field of study: Biology