Rapid Generation of Neutralizing Antibody Responses in COVID-19 Patients
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Abstract
SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, is causing a devastating worldwide pandemic, and there is a pressing need to understand the development, specificity, and neutralizing potency of humoral immune responses during acute infection. We report a cross-sectional study of antibody responses to the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein and virus neutralization activity in a cohort of 44 hospitalized COVID-19 patients. RBD-specific IgG responses are detectable in all patients 6 days after PCR confirmation. Isotype switching to IgG occurs rapidly, primarily to IgG1 and IgG3. Using a clinical SARS-CoV-2 isolate, neutralizing antibody titers are detectable in all patients by 6 days after PCR confirmation and correlate with RBD-specific binding IgG titers. The RBD-specific binding data were further validated in a clinical setting with 231 PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patient samples. These findings have implications for understanding protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2, therapeutic use of immune plasma, and development of much-needed vaccines.
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SARS-CoV-2 infection rapidly elicits nAbs that decline, but remain detectable, over several months.
“SARS-CoV-2 infection rapidly elicits nAbs (16, 21–24) that decline, but remain detectable, over several months (25–29).”
From mRNA vaccination boosts cross-variant neutralizing antibodies elicited by SARS-CoV-2 infection (2021) · cites this paper as [21]
Most serum nAb responses elicited during natural infection are directed at the RBD.
“Most serum nAb responses elicited during natural infection are directed at the RBD (21, 23, 30, 31).”
From mRNA vaccination boosts cross-variant neutralizing antibodies elicited by SARS-CoV-2 infection (2021) · cites this paper as [21]
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- Authors
- Suthar, M. S., Zimmerman, M. G., Kauffman, R. C., Mantus, G., Linderman, S. L., Hudson, W. H., Vanderheiden, A., Nyhoff, L., Davis, C. W., Adekunle, O., Affer, M., Sherman, M., Reynolds, S., Verkerke, H. P., Alter, D. N., Guarner, J., Bryksin, J., Horwath, M. C., Arthur, C. M., Saakadze, N., Smith, G. H., Edupuganti, S., Scherer, E. M., Hellmeister, K., Cheng, A., Morales, J. A., Neish, A. S., Stowell, S. R., Frank, F., Ortlund, E., Anderson, E. J., Menachery, V. D., Rouphael, N., Mehta, A. K., Stephens, D. S., Ahmed, R., Roback, J. D., & Wrammert, J.
- Affiliations
- Emory University (US)
- Emory Healthcare (US)
- The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (US)
- Corresponding author
- Suthar, Mehul S.
- Wrammert, Jens
- ORCID
- Suthar, Mehul S.
- Kauffman, Robert C.
- Mantus, Grace
- Linderman, Susanne L.
- Vanderheiden, Abigail
- Nyhoff, Lindsay
- Davis, Carl W.
- Adekunle, Oluwaseyi
- Affer, Maurizio
- Verkerke, Hans P.
- Alter, David N.
- Guarner, Jeannette
- Horwath, Michael C.
- Arthur, Connie M.
- Smith, Geoffrey H.
- Edupuganti, Srilatha
- Scherer, Erin M.
- Cheng, Andrew
- Morales, Juliet A.
- Neish, Andrew S.
- Stowell, Sean R.
- Frank, Filipp
- Ortlund, Eric
- Anderson, Evan J.
- Menachery, Vineet D.
- Rouphael, Nadine
- Mehta, Aneesh K.
- Stephens, David S.
- Ahmed, Rafi
- Roback, John D.
- Wrammert, Jens
- Venue
- Cell Reports Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-06
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 100040
- ISSN
- 2666-3791 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7276302
- OpenAlex
- W3033022675
- Cited by
- 508
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 45 · 2023: 66 · 2022: 110 · 2021: 173 · 2020: 82
- FWCI
- 14.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Cell Reports Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- medRxiv (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- School of Medicine, Emory University
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 detection and testing
- Keywords
- SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 pandemic, neutralizing antibodies, humoral immune response, spike protein receptor-binding domain, class switch recombination, IgG1, IgG3, antibody titers, hospitalized patients, protective immunity, COVID-19 vaccines
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