Structural basis of a two-antibody cocktail exhibiting highly potent and broadly neutralizing activities against SARS-CoV-2 variants including diverse Omicron sublineages

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Abstract

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants of concern (VOCs), especially the latest Omicron, have exhibited severe antibody evasion. Broadly neutralizing antibodies with high potency against Omicron are urgently needed for understanding the working mechanisms and developing therapeutic agents. In this study, we characterized the previously reported F61, which was isolated from convalescent patients infected with prototype SARS-CoV-2, as a broadly neutralizing antibody against all VOCs including Omicron BA.1, BA.1.1, BA.2, BA.3 and BA.4 sublineages by utilizing antigen binding and cell infection assays. We also identified and characterized another broadly neutralizing antibody D2 with epitope distinct from that of F61. More importantly, we showed that a combination of F61 with D2 exhibited synergy in neutralization and protecting mice from SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Omicron BA.1 variants. Cryo-Electron Microscopy (Cryo-EM) structures of the spike-F61 and spike-D2 binary complexes revealed the distinct epitopes of F61 and D2 at atomic level and the structural basis for neutralization. Cryo-EM structure of the Omicron-spike-F61-D2 ternary complex provides further structural insights into the synergy between F61 and D2. These results collectively indicated F61 and F61-D2 cocktail as promising therapeutic antibodies for combating SARS-CoV-2 variants including diverse Omicron sublineages.

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  1. SciScore for 10.1101/2022.05.27.493682: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    EthicsEuthanasia Agents: At the end point of the experiment, all remaining animals in the monoclonal antibody-administered group received an overdose of isoflurane and were humanely euthanized.
    IACUC: Ethics statement: This study was approved by the Experimental Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Board of Wuhan Institute of Biological Products Co.
    Sex as a biological variableMale K18-hACE2 mice (6–8 weeks old, purchased from GemPharmatech Co., Ltd. Company.) were randomly distributed into groups (n = 3–6 mice per group).
    RandomizationMale K18-hACE2 mice (6–8 weeks old, purchased from GemPharmatech Co., Ltd. Company.) were randomly distributed into groups (n = 3–6 mice per group).
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Cell Line Authenticationnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    Then cells were stained with anti-mouse IgG Taxes red conjugated antibody and anti-human IgG FITC-conjugated antibody (Sigma, USA) for another 30 min then analyzed by FACS Aria II (BD, USA).
    anti-mouse IgG
    suggested: None
    anti-human IgG
    suggested: None
    Antibody Binding Kinetics Measured by SPR: The binding kinetics of mAbs to SARS-CoV-2 Delta-RBD or Omicron-RBD monomer were analyzed using SPR (Biacore 8K; GE Healthcare).
    SARS-CoV-2
    suggested: None
    Delta-RBD
    suggested: None
    Experimental Models: Cell Lines
    SentencesResources
    Cells, Viruses and Proteins: Cell lines (HEK293T and Vero E6 cells) were initially acquired from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC; USA).
    Vero E6
    suggested: RRID:CVCL_XD71)
    HEK293T-hACE2-cells were generated via the overexpression of the human ACE2 receptor in HEK293T cells and were used in the neutralization assays of pseudoviruses.
    HEK293T-hACE2-cells
    suggested: None
    Then mixtures were added to 2.5 × 105 HEK293T cells expressing ACE2 and incubated at 4 °C for another hour.
    HEK293T
    suggested: RRID:CVCL_HA71)
    HEK293-hACE2 cells (2.5 × 104 cells/100μL per well) were then added into the mixture and incubated at 37 °C in a humidified atmosphere with 5% CO2 for 23 h to 25 h.
    HEK293-hACE2
    suggested: None
    Experimental Models: Organisms/Strains
    SentencesResources
    Male K18-hACE2 mice (6–8 weeks old, purchased from GemPharmatech Co., Ltd. Company.) were randomly distributed into groups (n = 3–6 mice per group).
    K18-hACE2
    suggested: RRID:IMSR_GPT:T037657)
    Recombinant DNA
    SentencesResources
    The SARS-CoV-2 Spike ectodomain (1-1208) with a C-terminal Strep tag for purification and a foldon tag for trimerization was inserted into the pFastBac-Dual vector (Invitrogen) and was expressed using Bac-to-Bac baculovirus system (Invitrogen).
    pFastBac-Dual
    suggested: RRID:Addgene_137166)
    The cDNA encoding SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Spike was synthesized (GenBank ID: ULC25168.1) and cloned into the pCAG vector.
    pCAG
    suggested: RRID:Addgene_74288)
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    All of these data were analyzed using Flow Jo.
    Flow Jo
    suggested: (FlowJo, RRID:SCR_008520)
    All statistical analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism 8.
    GraphPad
    suggested: (GraphPad Prism, RRID:SCR_002798)
    Coot v.
    Coot
    suggested: (Coot, RRID:SCR_014222)
    Figures were generated using PyMOL 2.0.779
    PyMOL
    suggested: (PyMOL, RRID:SCR_000305)

    Results from OddPub: Thank you for sharing your data.


    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.


    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.


    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.


    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.


    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.