Cited by 658SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 ResearchCOVID-19 Clinical Research StudiesAnimal Virus Infections Studies

Escape of SARS-CoV-2 501Y.V2 from neutralization by convalescent plasma

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Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa, Cele, Sandile, COMMIT-KZN Team, Gazy, Inbal, Jackson, Laurelle, Hwa, Shi-Hsia, Tegally, Houriiyah, Lustig, Gila +15 more·2021·Nature

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) have arisen independently at multiple locations 1,2 and may reduce the efficacy of current vaccines that target the spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 3. Here, using a live-virus neutralization assay, we compared the neutralization of a non-VOC variant with the 501Y.V2 VOC (also known as B.1.351) using plasma collected from adults who were hospitalized with COVID-19 during the two waves of infection in South Africa, the second wave of which was dominated by infections with the 501Y.V2 variant. Sequencing demonstrated that infections of plasma donors from the first wave were with viruses that did not contain the mutations associated with 501Y.V2, except for one infection that contained the E484K substitution in the receptor-binding domain. The 501Y.V2 virus variant was effectively neutralized by plasma from individuals who were infected during the second wave. The first-wave virus variant was effectively neutralized by plasma from first-wave infections. However, the 501Y.V2 variant was poorly cross-neutralized by plasma from individuals with first-wave infections; the efficacy was reduced by 15.1-fold relative to neutralization of 501Y.V2 by plasma from individuals infected in the second wave. By contrast, cross-neutralization of first-wave virus variants using plasma from individuals with second-wave infections was more effective, showing only a 2.3-fold decrease relative to neutralization of first-wave virus variants by plasma from individuals infected in the first wave. Although we tested only one plasma sample from an individual infected with a SARS-CoV-2 variant with only the E484K substitution, this plasma sample potently neutralized both variants. The observed effective neutralization of first-wave virus by plasma from individuals infected with 501Y.V2 provides preliminary evidence that vaccines based on VOC sequences could retain activity against other circulating SARS-CoV-2 lineages.

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Authors
Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa, Cele, S., COMMIT-KZN Team, Gazy, I., Jackson, L., Hwa, S.-H., Tegally, H., Lustig, G., Giandhari, J., Pillay, S., Wilkinson, E., Naidoo, Y., Karim, F., Ganga, Y., Khan, K., Bernstein, M., Balazs, A. B., Gosnell, B. I., Hanekom, W., Moosa, M.-Y. S., Lessells, R. J., de Oliveira, T., & Sigal, A.
Affiliations
  • Africa Health Research Institute (ZA)
  • Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL)
  • Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (ZA)
  • University of KwaZulu-Natal (ZA)
  • Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard (US)
  • Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology (DE)
Corresponding author
Sigal, Alex
Venue
Nature
Published
2021-03-29
Volume
593
Issue
7857
Pages
142-146
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W3148277587
Cited by
651
References
31
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 63 · 2022: 199 · 2021: 320 · 2020: 3
FWCI
48.26
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • medRxiv (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • Griffith Research Online (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • South African Medical Research Council
  • Inyuvesi Yakwazulu-Natali
  • National Health Laboratory Service
  • Medical Research Council
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (DP2DA040254)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Animal Virus Infections Studies
Keywords
SARS-CoV-2, Beta variant, convalescent plasma, neutralizing antibodies, cross-neutralization, vaccine efficacy, spike protein, receptor binding domain, COVID-19 pandemic, South Africa
MeSH terms
COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 Serotherapy, Animals, Antibodies, Viral, Cell Line, Chlorocebus aethiops, Humans, Immunization, Passive, Mutation, Neutralization Tests, South Africa, Time Factors, Vero Cells, Immune Evasion, Antibodies, Neutralizing

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