SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 is susceptible to neutralizing antibodies elicited by ancestral spike vaccines
Open accessPublished version of a preprint
Abstract
All current vaccines for COVID-19 utilize ancestral SARS-CoV-2 spike with the goal of generating protective neutralizing antibodies. The recent emergence and rapid spread of several SARS-CoV-2 variants carrying multiple spike mutations raise concerns about possible immune escape. One variant, first identified in the United Kingdom (B.1.1.7, also called 20I/501Y.V1), contains eight spike mutations with potential to impact antibody therapy, vaccine efficacy, and risk of reinfection. Here, we show that B.1.1.7 remains sensitive to neutralization, albeit at moderately reduced levels (∼sim;2-fold), by serum samples from convalescent individuals and recipients of an mRNA vaccine (mRNA-1273, Moderna) and a protein nanoparticle vaccine (NVX-CoV2373, Novavax). A subset of monoclonal antibodies to the receptor binding domain (RBD) of spike are less effective against the variant, while others are largely unaffected. These findings indicate that variant B.1.1.7 is unlikely to be a major concern for current vaccines or for an increased risk of reinfection.
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The impact of B.1.1.7 mutations on neutralizing antibody titers is moderate.
“In general, the impact of B.1.1.7 mutations on neutralizing antibody titers is moderate.15, 16, 17, 18,20,24”
From Impact of SARS-CoV-2 variants on the total CD4+ and CD8+ T cell reactivity in infected or vaccinated individuals (2021) · cites this paper as [20]
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References 62 · Cited by 378
Research works printed but not linked: 8
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- Authors
- Shen, X., Tang, H., McDanal, C., Wagh, K., Fischer, W., Theiler, J., Yoon, H., Li, D., Haynes, B. F., Sanders, K. O., Gnanakaran, S., Hengartner, N., Pajon, R., Smith, G., Glenn, G. M., Korber, B., & Montefiori, D. C.
- Affiliations
- Duke University (US)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (US)
- Novavax (United States) (US)
- Corresponding author
- Montefiori, David C.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Cell Host & Microbe
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-04
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 529-539.e3
- ISSN
- 1931-3128 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7934674
- OpenAlex
- W3135322169
- Cited by
- 378
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 44 · 2022: 105 · 2021: 189 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 28.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/legal/tdmrep-license (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/ (vor, 378 d)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-017 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-037 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-012 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-029 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-004 (stm-asf)
- Locations
- Cell Host & Microbe (publishedVersion)
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nd)
- SSRN Electronic Journal (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nd)
- PubMed Central (submittedVersion, cc-by-nd)
- OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › vaccines and immunoinformatics approaches
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Animal Virus Infections Studies
- Keywords
- neutralizing antibodies, spike protein mutations, immune evasion, mRNA-1273 vaccine, monoclonal antibodies, receptor binding domain, convalescent serum, vaccine efficacy, reinfection risk
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