PreprintCited by 57SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Researchvaccines and immunoinformatics approachesMonoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies Research

Genetic and structural basis for recognition of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein by a two-antibody cocktail

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Dong, Jinhui, Zost, Seth J., Greaney, Allison J., Starr, Tyler N., Dingens, Adam S., Chen, Elaine C., Chen, Rita E., Case, James Brett +24 more·2021·bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has led to an urgent need to understand the molecular basis for immune recognition of SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein antigenic sites. To define the genetic and structural basis for SARS-CoV-2 neutralization, we determined the structures of two human monoclonal antibodies COV2-2196 and COV2-2130 1 , which form the basis of the investigational antibody cocktail AZD7442, in complex with the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2. COV2-2196 forms an “aromatic cage” at the heavy/light chain interface using germline-encoded residues in complementarity determining regions (CDRs) 2 and 3 of the heavy chain and CDRs 1 and 3 of the light chain. These structural features explain why highly similar antibodies (public clonotypes) have been isolated from multiple individuals 1–4 . The structure of COV2-2130 reveals that an unusually long LCDR1 and HCDR3 make interactions with the opposite face of the RBD from that of COV2-2196. Using deep mutational scanning and neutralization escape selection experiments, we comprehensively mapped the critical residues of both antibodies and identified positions of concern for possible viral escape. Nonetheless, both COV2-2196 and COV2-2130 showed strong neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 strain with recent variations of concern including E484K, N501Y, and D614G substitutions. These studies reveal germline-encoded antibody features enabling recognition of the RBD and demonstrate the activity of a cocktail like AZD7442 in preventing escape from emerging variant viruses.

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  • Earlier work using Vero E6-produced viruses carrying some or all South African spike changes found only 1.2- to 2.7-fold drops in neutralization by human sera after BNT162b2 vaccination.

    “As an example, recent studies with Vero E6 cell-derived SARS-CoV-2 with spike proteins containing some (E484K, N501Y, and D614G) or all of the South African mutations showed smaller 1.2 to 2.7-fold decreases in neutralization potency by BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine-elicited human immune sera22,46.”

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Authors
Dong, J., Zost, S. J., Greaney, A. J., Starr, T. N., Dingens, A. S., Chen, E. C., Chen, R. E., Case, J. B., Sutton, R. E., Gilchuk, P., Rodriguez, J., Armstrong, E., Gainza, C., Nargi, R. S., Binshtein, E., Xie, X., Zhang, X., Shi, P.-Y., Logue, J., Weston, S., McGrath, M. E., Frieman, M. B., Brady, T., Tuffy, K., Bright, H., Loo, Y.-M., McTamney, P., Esser, M., Carnahan, R. H., Diamond, M. S., Bloom, J. D., & Crowe, J. E.
Affiliations
  • Vanderbilt University Medical Center (US)
  • University of Washington (US)
  • Fred Hutch Cancer Center (US)
  • Washington University in St. Louis (US)
  • The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (US)
  • University of Maryland, College Park (US)
  • AstraZeneca (United States) (US)
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
Corresponding author
Crowe, James E.
Venue
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Publisher
openRxiv
Published
2021-01-28
OpenAlex
W3121265983
Cited by
55
References
74
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 34
Type
posted content
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute
  • U.S. Department of Energy (DE‐ AC02‐06CH11357, COVID-19, AC02‐06CH11357, 085P1000817, 06CH11357, DE-AC02-)
  • Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation (DRG-2381-19)
  • Amon G. Carter Foundation
  • Washington Research Foundation (DE-AC02-06CH11357)
  • Eli Lilly and Company
  • AstraZeneca
  • GlaxoSmithKline
  • Michigan Economic Development Corporation (085P1000817, DE-AC02-06CH11357)
  • George Mason University
  • Vanderbilt University
  • John S. Dunn Foundation
  • University of Washington (DE-AC02-06CH11357)
  • Merck KGaA
  • Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation
  • Vanderbilt University Medical Center
  • Fast Grants
  • Moderna
  • National Institutes of Health (1s10od028685-01, -0001, COVID-19, 75N93019C00062, DE-AC02–06CH11357, 085P1000817, UL1TR001439)
  • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (HR0011‐18‐2‐0001, HR00 11-18-3-0001, 75N93019C00062)
  • Office of Science (AC02‐06CH11357, DE-AC02, 085P1000817, 06CH11357, DE-AC02-06CH11357)
  • Advanced Research Projects Agency
  • Michigan Technology Tri-Corridor (DE-AC02-06CH11357, 085P1000817)
  • Mercatus Center, George Mason University
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (T32AI083203)
  • Office of Research Infrastructure Programs, National Institutes of Health (S10OD028685)
  • Argonne National Laboratory (DE- AC02-06-CH11357, DE-AC02, AC02–06CH11357, 085P1000817, 06CH11357)
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
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies Research
Keywords
SARS-CoV-2, spike protein, receptor binding domain, monoclonal antibodies, antibody-antigen complex structure, hypervariable region, neutralization escape, deep mutational scanning, E484K, N501Y, D614G, variants of concern

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