Asymptomatic and symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections elicit polyfunctional antibodies
Open accessPublished version of a preprint
Abstract
Many SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals remain asymptomatic. Little is known about the extent and quality of their antiviral humoral response. Here, we analyze antibody functions in 52 asymptomatic infected individuals, 119 mildly symptomatic, and 21 hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We measure anti-spike immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgA, and IgM levels with the S-Flow assay and map IgG-targeted epitopes with a Luminex assay. We also evaluate neutralization, complement deposition, and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) using replication-competent SARS-CoV-2 or reporter cell systems. We show that COVID-19 sera mediate complement deposition and kill infected cells by ADCC. Sera from asymptomatic individuals neutralize the virus, activate ADCC, and trigger complement deposition. Antibody levels and functions are lower in asymptomatic individuals than they are in symptomatic cases. Antibody functions are correlated, regardless of disease severity. Longitudinal samplings show that antibody functions follow similar kinetics of induction and contraction. Overall, asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection elicits polyfunctional antibodies neutralizing the virus and targeting infected cells.
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ADCC-mediating antibodies have been detected in plasma of COVID-19 convalescent donors.
“ADCC-mediating antibodies have been detected in plasma of COVID-19 convalescent donors (16, 67, 68).”
From SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern partially escape humoral but not T cell responses in COVID-19 convalescent donors and vaccine recipients (2021) · cites this paper as [67]
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References 66 · Cited by 89
- Authors
- Dufloo, J., Grzelak, L., Staropoli, I., Madec, Y., Tondeur, L., Anna, F., Pelleau, S., Wiedemann, A., Planchais, C., Buchrieser, J., Robinot, R., Ungeheuer, M.-N., Mouquet, H., Charneau, P., White, M., Lévy, Y., Hoen, B., Fontanet, A., Schwartz, O., & Bruel, T.
- Affiliations
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Institut Pasteur (FR)
- Inserm (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Schwartz, Olivier
- Bruel, Timothée
- ORCID
- Venue
- Cell Reports Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-05
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 100275
- ISSN
- 2666-3791 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8057765
- OpenAlex
- W3155608666
- Cited by
- 89
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 24
- FWCI
- 5.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Cell Reports Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- medRxiv (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Agence Nationale de Recherches sur le Sida et les Hépatites Virales
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement
- Institut Pasteur
- Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation
- Swiss Vaccine Research Institute
- European Commission
- Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR-10-LABX-62-IBEID, ANR-10-LABX-69-01, ANR-10-LABX-77, ANR-14-CE14-0015-01, ANR-14-CE14-0029)
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale
- Gilead Sciences
- 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, asymptomatic infection, humoral immune response, neutralizing antibodies, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, complement deposition, anti-spike antibodies, disease severity, antibody kinetics
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Adolescent, Adult, Antibodies, Viral, Antibody-Dependent Cell Cytotoxicity, Antigen-Antibody Reactions, Epitopes, Complement System Proteins, Female, Humans, Immunoglobulin G, Killer Cells, Natural, Male, Middle Aged, Neutralization Tests, Severity of Illness Index, Young Adult, Asymptomatic Diseases, Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
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