Reduced binding and neutralization of infection- and vaccine-induced antibodies to the B.1.351 (South African) SARS-CoV-2 variant

SUMMARY
The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants with mutations in the spike protein is raising concerns about the efficacy of infection- or vaccine-induced antibodies to neutralize these variants. We compared antibody binding and live virus neutralization of sera from naturally infected and spike mRNA vaccinated individuals against a circulating SARS-CoV-2 B.1 variant and the emerging B.1.351 variant. In acutely-infected (5-19 days post-symptom onset), convalescent COVID-19 individuals (through 8 months post-symptom onset) and mRNA-1273 vaccinated individuals (day 14 post-second dose), we observed an average 4.3-fold reduction in antibody titers to the B.1.351-derived receptor binding domain of the spike protein and an average 3.5-fold reduction in neutralizing antibody titers to the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.351 variant as compared to the B.1 variant (spike D614G). However, most acute and convalescent sera from infected and all vaccinated individuals neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.351 variant, suggesting that protective immunity is retained against COVID-19.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Footnotes
Lead contact: Mehul S. Suthar (mehul.s.suthar{at}emory.edu)
Subject Area
- Biochemistry (8828)
- Bioengineering (6532)
- Bioinformatics (23484)
- Biophysics (11804)
- Cancer Biology (9223)
- Cell Biology (13336)
- Clinical Trials (138)
- Developmental Biology (7442)
- Ecology (11425)
- Epidemiology (2066)
- Evolutionary Biology (15173)
- Genetics (10452)
- Genomics (14056)
- Immunology (9187)
- Microbiology (22198)
- Molecular Biology (8823)
- Neuroscience (47625)
- Paleontology (351)
- Pathology (1431)
- Pharmacology and Toxicology (2493)
- Physiology (3736)
- Plant Biology (8090)
- Synthetic Biology (2224)
- Systems Biology (6042)
- Zoology (1254)