B.1.526 SARS-CoV-2 variants identified in New York City are neutralized by vaccine-elicited and therapeutic monoclonal antibodies

  1. Hao Zhou
  2. Belinda M. Dcosta
  3. Marie I. Samanovic
  4. Mark J. Mulligan
  5. Nathaniel R. Landau
  6. Takuya Tada

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Abstract

DNA sequence analysis recently identified the novel SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.526 that is spreading at an alarming rate in the New York City area. Two versions of the variant were identified, both with the prevalent D614G mutation in the spike protein together with four novel point mutations and with an E484K or S477N mutation in the receptor binding domain, raising concerns of possible resistance to vaccine-elicited and therapeutic antibodies. We report that convalescent sera and vaccine-elicited antibodies retain full neutralizing titer against the S477N B.1.526 variant and neutralize the E484K version with a modest 3.5-fold decrease in titer as compared to D614G. The E484K version was neutralized with a 12-fold decrease in titer by the REGN10933 monoclonal antibody but the combination cocktail with REGN10987 was fully active. The findings suggest that current vaccines and therapeutic monoclonal antibodies will remain protective against the B.1.526 variants. The findings further support the value of wide-spread vaccination.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.03.24.436620: (What is this?)

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

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementConsent: Human Sera and monoclonal antibodies: Convalescent sera and sera from BNT162b2 or Moderna-vaccinated individuals were collected on day 28 following the second immunization at the NYU vaccine center with written consent under IRB approval (IRB 20-00595 and IRB 18-02037).
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Cell Line Authenticationnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    , anti-p24 mAb (AG3.0) and anti-GAPDH mAb (Life Technologies) followed by goat anti-mouse HRP-conjugated second antibody (Sigma).
    anti-p24
    suggested: None
    anti-GAPDH
    suggested: None
    anti-mouse
    suggested: None
    Experimental Models: Cell Lines
    SentencesResources
    SARS-CoV-2 spike lentiviral pseudotypes: SARS-CoV-2 spike-pseudotyped lentiviruses were produced by co-transfection of 293T cells with pMDL, pLenti.GFP-NLuc, pcCoV2.S-Δ19 (or variant spikes) and pRSV.
    293T
    suggested: NCBI_Iran Cat# C498, RRID:CVCL_0063)
    The mixture was then added to 1 × 104 ACE2.293T cells, corresponding to an MOI of 0.2 in a 96-well cell culture dish.
    ACE2.293T
    suggested: None
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Quantification and Statistical Analysis: All experiments were performed in technical duplicates or triplicates and data were analyzed using GraphPad Prism 8.
    GraphPad Prism
    suggested: (GraphPad Prism, RRID:SCR_002798)
    3D view of protein was obtained using PyMOL.
    PyMOL
    suggested: (PyMOL, RRID:SCR_000305)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    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.

    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.

  2. Version published to 10.1101/2021.03.24.436620 on bioRxiv