Rapid Generation of Neutralizing Antibody Responses in COVID-19 Patients

• Published in: Cell reports. Medicine Vol. 1; no. 3; p. 100040
• Main Authors: Suthar, Mehul S., Zimmerman, Matthew G., Kauffman, Robert C., Mantus, Grace, Linderman, Susanne L., Hudson, William H., Vanderheiden, Abigail, Nyhoff, Lindsay, Davis, Carl W., Adekunle, Oluwaseyi, Affer, Maurizio, Sherman, Melanie, Reynolds, Stacian, Verkerke, Hans P., Alter, David N., Guarner, Jeannette, Bryksin, Janetta, Horwath, Michael C., Arthur, Connie M., Saakadze, Natia, Smith, Geoffrey H., Edupuganti, Srilatha, Scherer, Erin M., Hellmeister, Kieffer, Cheng, Andrew, Morales, Juliet A., Neish, Andrew S., Stowell, Sean R., Frank, Filipp, Ortlund, Eric, Anderson, Evan J., Menachery, Vineet D., Rouphael, Nadine, Mehta, Aneesh K., Stephens, David S., Ahmed, Rafi, Roback, John D., Wrammert, Jens
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 23.06.2020; Elsevier
• Subjects: Advanced Basic Science; coronavirus; COVID-19; humoral immune response; neutralizing antibody; protective immunity; receptor-binding protein; SARS-CoV-2; serology test; spike protein; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; receptor-binding protein; serology test; spike protein; neutralizing antibody; coronavirus; humoral immune response; protective immunity
• ISSN: 2666-3791; 2666-3791
• DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2020.100040

SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, is causing a devastating worldwide pandemic, and there is a pressing need to understand the development, specificity, and neutralizing potency of humoral immune responses during acute infection. We report a cross-sectional study of antibody responses to the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein and virus neutralization activity in a cohort of 44 hospitalized COVID-19 patients. RBD-specific IgG responses are detectable in all patients 6 days after PCR confirmation. Isotype switching to IgG occurs rapidly, primarily to IgG1 and IgG3. Using a clinical SARS-CoV-2 isolate, neutralizing antibody titers are detectable in all patients by 6 days after PCR confirmation and correlate with RBD-specific binding IgG titers. The RBD-specific binding data were further validated in a clinical setting with 231 PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patient samples. These findings have implications for understanding protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2, therapeutic use of immune plasma, and development of much-needed vaccines. [Display omitted] Cross-sectional study of 44 hospitalized COVID-19 patientsRBD-specific IgG responses detectable in all patients 6 days after PCR confirmationNeutralizing titers are detectable in all patients 6 days after PCR confirmationRBD-specific IgG titers correlate with the neutralizing potency Suthar et al. report on a cross-sectional study of hospitalized COVID-19 patients suggesting a correlation between the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding-domain-specific IgG responses and virus neutralizing antibody responses. These findings have implications for understanding protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2, therapeutic use of immune plasma, and development of vaccines.