A highly conserved cryptic epitope in the receptor binding domains of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV

  1. Meng Yuan
  2. Nicholas C. Wu
  3. Xueyong Zhu
  4. Chang-Chun D. Lee
  5. Ray T. Y. So
  6. Huibin Lv
  7. Chris K. P. Mok
  8. Ian A. Wilson

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Abstract

The surface of severe acute respiratory syndrome–coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is decorated with trimeric spikes that bind to host cell receptors. These spikes also elicit an antibody response, so understanding antibody recognition may aid in vaccine design. Yuan et al. determined the structure of CR3022, a neutralizing antibody obtained from a convalescent SARS-CoV–infected patient, in complex with the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike. The antibody binds to an epitope conserved between SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV that is distinct from the receptor-binding site. CR3022 likely binds more tightly to SARS-CoV because its epitope contains a glycan not present in SARS-CoV-2. Structural modeling showed that the epitope is only revealed when at least two of the three spike proteins are in a conformation competent to bind the receptor.

Science , this issue p. 630

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    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.03.13.991570: (What is this?)

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

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    No key resources detected.

    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.

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

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

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  2. Version published to 10.1126/science.abb7269
  3. Version published to 10.1101/2020.03.13.991570v1 on bioRxiv