TY - JOUR
T1 - SARS-CoV-2 spike variants exhibit differential infectivity and neutralization resistance to convalescent or post-vaccination sera
AU - Kuzmina, Alona
AU - Khalaila, Yara
AU - Voloshin, Olga
AU - Keren-Naus, Ayelet
AU - Boehm-Cohen, Liora
AU - Raviv, Yael
AU - Shemer-Avni, Yonat
AU - Rosenberg, Elli
AU - Taube, Ran
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2021/4/14
Y1 - 2021/4/14
N2 - Toward eradicating the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines that induce high humoral and cellular immune responses are essential. However, SARS-CoV-2 variants have begun to emerge and raise concerns, as they may potentially compromise vaccine efficiency. Here, we monitored neutralization potency of convalescent or Pfizer-BTN162b2 post-vaccination sera against pseudoviruses displaying spike proteins derived from wild-type SARS-CoV-2, or its UK-B.1.1.7 and SA-B.1.351 variants. Compared to convalescent sera, vaccination induces high titers of neutralizing antibodies, which exhibit efficient neutralization potential against pseudovirus carrying wild-type SARS-CoV-2. However, while wild-type and UK-N501Y pseudoviruses were similarly neutralized, those displaying SA-N501Y/K417N/E484K spike mutations moderately resist neutralization. Contribution of single or combined spike mutations to neutralization and infectivity were monitored, highlighting mechanisms by which viral infectivity and neutralization resistance are enhanced by N501Y or E484K/K417N mutations. Our study validates the importance of the Pfizer vaccine but raises concerns regarding its efficacy against specific SARS-CoV-2 circulating variants.
AB - Toward eradicating the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines that induce high humoral and cellular immune responses are essential. However, SARS-CoV-2 variants have begun to emerge and raise concerns, as they may potentially compromise vaccine efficiency. Here, we monitored neutralization potency of convalescent or Pfizer-BTN162b2 post-vaccination sera against pseudoviruses displaying spike proteins derived from wild-type SARS-CoV-2, or its UK-B.1.1.7 and SA-B.1.351 variants. Compared to convalescent sera, vaccination induces high titers of neutralizing antibodies, which exhibit efficient neutralization potential against pseudovirus carrying wild-type SARS-CoV-2. However, while wild-type and UK-N501Y pseudoviruses were similarly neutralized, those displaying SA-N501Y/K417N/E484K spike mutations moderately resist neutralization. Contribution of single or combined spike mutations to neutralization and infectivity were monitored, highlighting mechanisms by which viral infectivity and neutralization resistance are enhanced by N501Y or E484K/K417N mutations. Our study validates the importance of the Pfizer vaccine but raises concerns regarding its efficacy against specific SARS-CoV-2 circulating variants.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Pfizer-BTN162b2 vaccine
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - Spike
KW - UK and SA variants
KW - United Kingdom and South African variants
KW - neutralization antibodies
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85103512563&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.chom.2021.03.008
DO - 10.1016/j.chom.2021.03.008
M3 - Article
C2 - 33789085
AN - SCOPUS:85103512563
SN - 1931-3128
VL - 29
SP - 522-528.e2
JO - Cell Host and Microbe
JF - Cell Host and Microbe
IS - 4
ER -
