PreprintCited by 285SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 ResearchAnimal Virus Infections Studiesvaccines and immunoinformatics approaches

Cross-reactive serum and memory B cell responses to spike protein in SARS-CoV-2 and endemic coronavirus infection

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Song, Ge, He, Wan-ting, Callaghan, Sean, Anzanello, Fabio, Huang, Deli, Ricketts, James, Torres, Jonathan L., Beutler, Nathan +13 more·2020·Nature Communications

Preprint — published as 10.1038/s41467-021-23074-3

Abstract

Pre-existing immune responses to seasonal endemic coronaviruses could have profound consequences for antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2, either induced in natural infection or through vaccination. Such consequences are well established in the influenza and flavivirus fields. A first step to establish whether pre-existing responses can impact SARS-CoV-2 infection is to understand the nature and extent of cross-reactivity in humans to coronaviruses. We compared serum antibody and memory B cell responses to coronavirus spike (S) proteins from pre-pandemic and SARS-CoV-2 convalescent donors using a series of binding and functional assays. We found weak evidence of pre-existing SARS-CoV-2 cross-reactive serum antibodies in pre-pandemic donors. However, we found stronger evidence of pre-existing cross-reactive memory B cells that were activated on SARS-CoV-2 infection. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) isolated from the donors showed varying degrees of cross-reactivity with betacoronaviruses, including SARS and endemic coronaviruses. None of the cross-reactive mAbs were neutralizing except for one that targeted the S2 subunit of the S protein. The results suggest that pre-existing immunity to endemic coronaviruses should be considered in evaluating antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2.

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Authors
Song, G., He, W.-T., Callaghan, S., Anzanello, F., Huang, D., Ricketts, J., Torres, J. L., Beutler, N., Peng, L., Vargas, S., Cassell, J., Parren, M., Yang, L., Ignacio, C., Smith, D. M., Voss, J. E., Nemazee, D., Ward, A. B., Rogers, T., Burton, D. R., & Andrabi, R.
Affiliations
  • Scripps Research Institute (US)
  • University of California San Diego (US)
Corresponding author
  • Burton, Dennis R.
  • Andrabi, Raiees
Venue
Nature Communications
Publisher
openRxiv
Published
2020-09-23
Volume
12
Issue
1
Pages
2938-2938
ISSN
2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3161511556
Cited by
285
References
40
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 53 · 2022: 78 · 2021: 85 · 2020: 7
FWCI
19.48
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1170236, UM1 AI44462)
  • International AIDS Vaccine Initiative
  • National Institutes of Health (UM1 AI44462, COVID-19)
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R01AI132317, R01AI073148, R56AI073148)
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, cross-reactive antibodies, memory B cells, spike protein, endemic coronaviruses, pre-existing immunity, SARS-CoV-1, betacoronaviruses, neutralizing antibodies, S2 subunit, monoclonal antibodies, antibody cross-reactivity, convalescent donors

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