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[Preprint]. 2021 Apr 9:2021.04.04.21254881.
doi: 10.1101/2021.04.04.21254881.

Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 variants by convalescent and vaccinated serum

Timothy A Bates #  1 , Hans C Leier #  1 , Zoe L Lyski  1 , Savannah K McBride  1 , Felicity J Coulter  1 , Jules B Weinstein  1 , James R Goodman  2 , Zhengchun Lu  1 , Sarah A R Siegel  3 , Peter Sullivan  3 , Matt Strnad  3 , Amanda E Brunton  3 , David X Lee  1 , Marcel E Curlin  4 , William B Messer  1   3   4 , Fikadu G Tafesse  1
Affiliations

Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 variants by convalescent and vaccinated serum

Timothy A Bates et al. medRxiv. .

Update in

Abstract

We tested human sera from large, demographically balanced cohorts of BNT162b2 vaccine recipients (n=51) and COVID-19 patients (n=44) for neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 variants B.1.1.7 and B.1.351. Although the effect is more pronounced in the vaccine cohort, both B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 show significantly reduced levels of neutralization by vaccinated and convalescent sera. Age is negatively correlated with neutralization in vaccinee, and levels of variant-specific RBD antibodies are proportional to neutralizing activities.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Serum antibody levels of BNT162b2 vaccine recipients and potency of sera to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 variants.
A) Serum antibody levels (EC50) that recognize the spike RBD of the wild type USA-WA1/2020 (WA1), B.1.1.7, and B.1.351 variants are shown. The RBD-B.1.1.7 carries the N501Y mutation corresponding to the B.1.1.7 variant and the RBD-B.1.135 has K417N, E484K, and N501Y mutations that are present in the B.1.351 variant. B) Comparison of neutralization titers (FRNT50) between WA1, B.1.17 and B.1.351 for BNT162b2 vaccinee sera. C) Correlation of variant matched RBD-specific antibody levels and neutralization titers (FRNT50) of the AW1 virus and the two variants. D, E) Correlations between neutralization titers of the B.1.1.7 (D) and B.1.351 (E) variants with the WA1 virus. The dotted diagonal lines indicate identical neutralization, and the solid diagonal black lines indicate 10-fold differences in neutralization. F-H) Correlation between participant age and neutralization titer against WA1 (F), B.1.1.7 (G), and B.1.351 (H). I) Effect of age range on the neutralization potency among the BNT162b2 vaccine recipients.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 variants by convalescent serum.
A) Quantification of serum antibody levels (EC50) that recognize RBD protein corresponding to the wild type (WA1), B.1.1.7, and B.1.351 variants. B) Comparison of neutralization titers between WA1, B.1.17 and B.1.351 for convalescent sera. C) Relationship between convalescent antibody levels and neutralization (FRNT50) of the different virus strains. D, E) Correlations between convalescent serum neutralization titer of the B.1.1.7 (D) and B.1.351 (E) variants with the WA1 virus. The dotted diagonal lines indicate identical neutralization, and the solid diagonal black lines indicate 10-fold differences in neutralization. F) Correlation of convalescent neutralization titers with time after first positive PCR test in COVID-19 patients. There is no significant correlation between days post positive PCR test and FRNT50 for the viral strains tested.
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