Cited by 2,312SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 ResearchAnimal Virus Infections Studiesvaccines and immunoinformatics approaches

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 62 of the 62 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 19 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Antibody resistance of SARS-CoV-2 variants B.1.351 and B.1.1.7

Open access

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had widespread effects across the globe, and its causative agent, SARS-CoV-2, continues to spread. Effective interventions need to be developed to end this pandemic. Single and combination therapies with monoclonal antibodies have received emergency use authorization 1-3, and more treatments are under development 4-7. Furthermore, multiple vaccine constructs have shown promise 8, including two that have an approximately 95% protective efficacy against COVID-19 9,10. However, these interventions were directed against the initial SARS-CoV-2 virus that emerged in 2019. The recent detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants B.1.1.7 in the UK 11 and B.1.351 in South Africa 12 is of concern because of their purported ease of transmission and extensive mutations in the spike protein. Here we show that B.1.1.7 is refractory to neutralization by most monoclonal antibodies against the N-terminal domain of the spike protein and is relatively resistant to a few monoclonal antibodies against the receptor-binding domain. It is not more resistant to plasma from individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 or sera from individuals who have been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. The B.1.351 variant is not only refractory to neutralization by most monoclonal antibodies against the N-terminal domain but also by multiple individual monoclonal antibodies against the receptor-binding motif of the receptor-binding domain, which is mostly due to a mutation causing an E484K substitution. Moreover, compared to wild-type SARS-CoV-2, B.1.351 is markedly more resistant to neutralization by convalescent plasma (9.4-fold) and sera from individuals who have been vaccinated (10.3-12.4-fold). B.1.351 and emergent variants 13,14 with similar mutations in the spike protein present new challenges for monoclonal antibody therapies and threaten the protective efficacy of current vaccines.

Overview

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1038/s41586-021-03398-2

Cites

62 of 62 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

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Verification

Claims the paper makes

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Show all 48 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 12
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 12
21 of 21
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    In vitro neutralization by monoclonal antibodies predicts clinical therapeutic efficacy.

    “These findings suggest that antibody treatment of this virus might need to be modified in localities in which B.1.351and related variants 13,14 are prevalent”
    “Decisions on the use of these monoclonal antibodies will depend heavily on the local prevalence of B.1.351or variants with an E484K substitution”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    In vitro neutralization by vaccinee sera predicts vaccine protective efficacy.

    “the neutralizing activity of sera from vaccinated individuals against B.1.1.7 is largely intact and no adverse effects on current vaccines are expected”
    “threaten the protective efficacy of current vaccines”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Reduced neutralization of a variant by antibodies in vitro reflects reduced antibody-mediated protection against that variant in vivo.

    “Overall, the neutralizing activity against B.1.1.7 was essentially unchanged, but significantly lower against B.1.351(12.4-fold for the Moderna vaccine; 10.3-fold for the Pfizer vaccine).”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The convalescent plasma samples and vaccinee sera studied are representative of convalescent patients and of vaccine recipients generally.

    “B.1.351 is more resistant to neutralization by convalescent plasma from patients.”
    “B.1.351 is more resistant to neutralization by sera from individuals vaccinated with the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.”
4 of 4

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Citations

Cites

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Show all 51 references

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Faria, N. R. et al. Genomic characterisation of an emergent SARS-CoV-2 lineage in Manaus: preliminary findings. Preprint at https://virological.org/t/genomic-characterisation-of-an-emergent-sars-cov-2-lineage-in-manaus-preliminary-findings/586 (2021).
  2. Naveca, F. et al. Phylogenetic relationship of SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Amazonas with emerging Brazilian variants harboring mutations E484K and N501Y in the spike protein. Preprint at https://virological.org/t/phylogenetic-relationship-of-sars-cov-2-sequences-from-amazonas-with-emerging-brazilian-variants-harboring-mutations-e484k-and-n501y-in-the-spike-protein/585 (2021).

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Metadata

Authors
Wang, P., Nair, M. S., Liu, L., Iketani, S., Luo, Y., Guo, Y., Wang, M., Yu, J., Zhang, B., Kwong, P. D., Graham, B. S., Mascola, J. R., Chang, J. Y., Yin, M. T., Sobieszczyk, M., Kyratsous, C. A., Shapiro, L., Sheng, Z., Huang, Y., & Ho, D. D.
Affiliations
  • Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center (US)
  • National Institutes of Health (US)
  • Regeneron (United States) (US)
Corresponding author
  • Huang, Yaoxing
  • Ho, David D.
Venue
Nature
Published
2021-03-08
Volume
593
Issue
7857
Pages
130-135
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W3123551159
Cited by
2,312
References
51
Citations by year
2026: 34 · 2025: 101 · 2024: 136 · 2023: 299 · 2022: 750 · 2021: 984
FWCI
171.98
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Research Square (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
  • JPB Foundation
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Animal Virus Infections Studies
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › vaccines and immunoinformatics approaches
Keywords
SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-2 variants, Beta variant, Alpha variant, antibody resistance, neutralizing antibodies, monoclonal antibodies, spike protein mutations, N-terminal domain, receptor binding domain, convalescent plasma, vaccine efficacy

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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

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