Cited by 1,853SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Researchvaccines and immunoinformatics approachesAnimal Virus Infections Studies

Convergent Antibody Responses to SARS-CoV-2 in Convalescent Individuals

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Robbiani, Davide F., Gaebler, Christian, Muecksch, Frauke, Lorenzi, Julio C. C., Wang, Zijun, Cho, Alice, Agudelo, Marianna, Barnes, Christopher O. +38 more·2020·Nature

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

During the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to the infection of millions of people and has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. The entry of the virus into cells depends on the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2. Although there is currently no vaccine, it is likely that antibodies will be essential for protection. However, little is known about the human antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 1-5. Here we report on 149 COVID-19-convalescent individuals. Plasma samples collected an average of 39 days after the onset of symptoms had variable half-maximal pseudovirus neutralizing titres; titres were less than 50 in 33% of samples, below 1,000 in 79% of samples and only 1% of samples had titres above 5,000. Antibody sequencing revealed the expansion of clones of RBD-specific memory B cells that expressed closely related antibodies in different individuals. Despite low plasma titres, antibodies to three distinct epitopes on the RBD neutralized the virus with half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC 50 values) as low as 2 ng ml-1. In conclusion, most convalescent plasma samples obtained from individuals who recover from COVID-19 do not contain high levels of neutralizing activity. Nevertheless, rare but recurring RBD-specific antibodies with potent antiviral activity were found in all individuals tested, suggesting that a vaccine designed to elicit such antibodies could be broadly effective.

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Crossref · 10.1038/s41586-020-2456-9

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  • Some studies suggest that elicited neutralizing activity is maintained for up to 8 months after natural infection with SARS-CoV-2.

    “Although it is unclear how long protective effects last beyond the first few months after vaccination, some studies suggest that the elicited neutralizing activity is maintained for up to 8 months after the natural infection with SARS-CoV-2 (refs. 41,42).”

    From Modeling vaccination rollouts, SARS-CoV-2 variants and the requirement for non-pharmaceutical interventions in Italy (2021) · cites this paper as [41]

    The paper reports neutralizing activity in plasma from convalescent individuals, but its cohort description (Abstract; page unavailable) places collection 17–67 days after symptom onset. It does not establish that neutralizing activity is maintained for up to eight months after infection. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Neutralizing antibody levels correlate with viral load and are higher in more severe disease and in older versus younger adults.

    “The magnitude of these NAb responses appear to correlate with viral load, with higher responses reported in patients with more severe disease, and in older adults compared with younger adults26–29.”
  • Eight weeks after the second mRNA vaccine dose, volunteers had high IgM and IgG binding titers to SARS-CoV-2 S and RBD.

    “8 weeks after the second vaccine injection volunteers showed high levels of IgM, and IgG anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (S) and receptor binding domain (RBD) binding titers3,5,6.”
  • Vaccinees had significantly higher IgG and IgM than convalescent patients tested 1.3 and 6.2 months after infection; IgA was comparable.

    “In line with previous reports3,6,9, IgG and IgM levels were significantly higher in the vaccinated group compared to a cohort of convalescent patients assayed 1.3 and 6.2 months after infection, while IgA levels were similar (Extended Data Fig 1j–l).”
  • Neutralizing activity in plasma varied widely 3-14 weeks after the second dose; it resembled that in convalescent individuals at 1.3 months and exceeded that at 6.2 months.

    “In agreement with previous reports3,6,9, there was a broad range of plasma neutralizing activity 3–14 weeks after the second vaccine dose that was similar to that elicited by natural infection in a convalescent cohort after 1.3 months, and greater than the activity at 6.2 months after infection (Fig. 1a, Extended Data Table 1).”

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Authors
Robbiani, D. F., Gaebler, C., Muecksch, F., Lorenzi, J. C. C., Wang, Z., Cho, A., Agudelo, M., Barnes, C. O., Gazumyan, A., Finkin, S., Hägglöf, T., Oliveira, T. Y., Viant, C., Hurley, A., Hoffmann, H.-H., Millard, K. G., Kost, R. G., Cipolla, M., Gordon, K., Bianchini, F., Chen, S. T., Ramos, V., Patel, R., Dizon, J., Shimeliovich, I., Mendoza, P., Hartweger, H., Nogueira, L., Pack, M., Horowitz, J., Schmidt, F., Weisblum, Y., Michailidis, E., Ashbrook, A. W., Waltari, E., Pak, J. E., Huey-Tubman, K. E., Koranda, N., Hoffman, P. R., West, A. P., Rice, C. M., Hatziioannou, T., Bjorkman, P. J., Bieniasz, P. D., Caskey, M., & Nussenzweig, M. C.
Affiliations
  • Institute for Research in Biomedicine (CH)
  • Rockefeller University (US)
  • California Institute of Technology (US)
  • Chan Zuckerberg Biohub San Francisco (US)
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
Corresponding author
  • Robbiani, Davide F.
  • Bieniasz, Paul D.
  • Caskey, Marina
  • Nussenzweig, Michel C.
Venue
Nature
Published
2020-06-18
Volume
584
Issue
7821
Pages
437-442
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W3036386821
Cited by
1,853
References
46
Citations by year
2026: 49 · 2025: 79 · 2024: 115 · 2023: 194 · 2022: 403 · 2021: 691 · 2020: 321
FWCI
52.98
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (UL1TR001866)
  • George Mason University
  • California Institute of Technology
  • Fast Grants
  • National Institutes of Health (P01-AI138398-S1, AI150464, TR001866, UL1TR001866)
  • Beckman Institute, California Institute of Technology
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R01AI091707, R01AI078788, P50AI150464, U19AI111825, P01AI138938, R37AI064003, T32AI070084)
  • National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (TR001866)
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
SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 pandemic, convalescent plasma, neutralizing antibodies, receptor binding domain, spike protein, antibody response, memory B cells, pseudovirus neutralization, vaccine design, antibody epitopes

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