ABSTRACT
Characterizing SARS-CoV-2 evolution in specific geographies may help predict properties of the variants that come from these regions. We mapped neutralization of a SARS-CoV-2 strain that evolved over 6 months from ancestral virus in a person with advanced HIV disease in South Africa; this person was infected prior to emergence of the Beta and Delta variants. We longitudinally tracked the evolved virus and tested it against self-plasma and convalescent plasma from ancestral, Beta, and Delta infections. Early virus was similar to ancestral, but it evolved a multitude of mutations found in Omicron and other variants. It showed substantial but incomplete Pfizer BNT162b2 escape, weak neutralization by self-plasma, and despite pre-dating Delta, it also showed extensive escape of Delta infection-elicited neutralization. This example is consistent with the notion that SARS-CoV-2 evolving in individual immune-compromised hosts, including those with advanced HIV disease, may gain immune escape of vaccines and enhanced escape of Delta immunity, and this has implications for vaccine breakthrough and reinfections.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Neutralizing/blood , BNT162 Vaccine/immunology , HIV Infections/pathology , Immune Evasion/immunology , Immunogenicity, Vaccine/immunology , SARS-CoV-2/immunology , Adult , Animals , Antibodies, Neutralizing/immunology , Antibodies, Viral/blood , Antibodies, Viral/immunology , COVID-19/immunology , COVID-19 Vaccines/immunology , Cell Line , Chlorocebus aethiops , Female , HIV-1/immunology , Humans , Immunocompromised Host/immunology , Neutralization Tests , SARS-CoV-2/isolation & purification , South Africa , Vaccination , Vaccine Efficacy , Vero CellsABSTRACT
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission leads to the emergence of variants, including the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant of concern that is causing a new wave of infections and has become globally dominant. We show that these variants dampen the in vitro potency of vaccine-elicited serum neutralizing antibodies and provide a structural framework for describing their immune evasion. Mutations in the B.1.617.1 (Kappa) and Delta spike glycoproteins abrogate recognition by several monoclonal antibodies via alteration of key antigenic sites, including remodeling of the Delta amino-terminal domain. The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 binding affinities of the Kappa and Delta receptor binding domains are comparable to the Wuhan-Hu-1 isolate, whereas B.1.617.2+ (Delta+) exhibits markedly reduced affinity.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 Vaccines/immunology , Immune Evasion , SARS-CoV-2/immunology , Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/chemistry , Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/immunology , 2019-nCoV Vaccine mRNA-1273/immunology , Ad26COVS1/immunology , Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2/metabolism , Antibodies, Neutralizing/blood , Antibodies, Neutralizing/immunology , Antibodies, Neutralizing/metabolism , Antibodies, Viral/blood , Antibodies, Viral/immunology , Antibodies, Viral/metabolism , Antigens, Viral/chemistry , Antigens, Viral/immunology , BNT162 Vaccine/immunology , Cryoelectron Microscopy , Humans , Models, Molecular , Mutation , Protein Binding , Protein Conformation , Protein Domains , Protein Folding , Receptors, Coronavirus/metabolism , SARS-CoV-2/chemistry , SARS-CoV-2/genetics , SARS-CoV-2/pathogenicity , Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/genetics , Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/metabolismABSTRACT
Understanding vaccine-elicited protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants and other sarbecoviruses is key for guiding public health policies. We show that a clinical stage multivalent SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain nanoparticle (RBD-NP) vaccine protects mice from SARS-CoV-2 challenge after a single immunization, indicating a potential dose-sparing strategy. We benchmarked serum neutralizing activity elicited by RBD-NPs in non-human primates against a lead prefusion-stabilized SARS-CoV-2 spike (HexaPro) using a panel of circulating mutants. Polyclonal antibodies elicited by both vaccines are similarly resilient to many RBD residue substitutions tested, although mutations at and surrounding position 484 have negative consequences for neutralization. Mosaic and cocktail nanoparticle immunogens displaying multiple sarbecovirus RBDs elicit broad neutralizing activity in mice and protect mice against SARS-CoV challenge even in the absence of SARS-CoV RBD in the vaccine. This study provides proof of principle that multivalent sarbecovirus RBD-NPs induce heterotypic protection and motivates advancing such broadly protective sarbecovirus vaccines to the clinic.
ABSTRACT
A novel variant of concern (VOC) named CAL.20C (B.1.427/B.1.429), which was originally detected in California, carries spike glycoprotein mutations S13I in the signal peptide, W152C in the N-terminal domain (NTD), and L452R in the receptor-binding domain (RBD). Plasma from individuals vaccinated with a Wuhan-1 isolate-based messenger RNA vaccine or from convalescent individuals exhibited neutralizing titers that were reduced 2- to 3.5-fold against the B.1.427/B.1.429 variant relative to wild-type pseudoviruses. The L452R mutation reduced neutralizing activity in 14 of 34 RBD-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). The S13I and W152C mutations resulted in total loss of neutralization for 10 of 10 NTD-specific mAbs because the NTD antigenic supersite was remodeled by a shift of the signal peptide cleavage site and the formation of a new disulfide bond, as revealed by mass spectrometry and structural studies.