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Review
. 2021 Jun 30;44(6):392-400.
doi: 10.14348/molcells.2021.0075.

Humoral Immunity against SARS-CoV-2 and the Impact on COVID-19 Pathogenesis

Eunjin Lee  1 , Ji Eun Oh  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Humoral Immunity against SARS-CoV-2 and the Impact on COVID-19 Pathogenesis

Eunjin Lee et al. Mol Cells. .

Abstract

It has been more than a year since severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) first emerged. Many studies have provided insights into the various aspects of the immune response in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Especially for antibody treatment and vaccine development, humoral immunity to SARS-CoV-2 has been studied extensively, though there is still much that is unknown and controversial. Here, we introduce key discoveries on the humoral immune responses in COVID-19, including the immune dynamics of antibody responses and correlations with disease severity, neutralizing antibodies and their cross-reactivity, how long the antibody and memory B-cell responses last, aberrant autoreactive antibodies generated in COVID-19 patients, and the efficacy of currently available therapeutic antibodies and vaccines against circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants, and highlight gaps in the current knowledge.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; SARS-CoV-2 variants; humoral immunity; neutralizing antibody.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Global emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants.
The location and date of the first outbreak of each SARS-CoV-2 variant, including D614G (Germany), B.1.1.298 (Denmark), B.1.427/429 (California), B.1.351 (501Y.V2, South Africa), B.1.526 (New York), B.1.1.7 (501Y.V1, UK), P.1 and P.2 (Brazil and Japan), are shown. The given references are the first reports of the emergence of the corresponding variant.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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