Cell . Reduced neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant by convalescent and vaccine sera

[tetano]

Cell


. 2021 Feb 18;S0092-8674(21)00222-1.
doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.02.033. Online ahead of print.
Reduced neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant by convalescent and vaccine sera


Piyada Supasa ¹ , Daming Zhou ² , Wanwisa Dejnirattisai ¹ , Chang Liu ³ , Alexander J Mentzer ⁴ , Helen M Ginn ⁵ , Yuguang Zhao ² , Helen M E Duyvesteyn ² , Rungtiwa Nutalai ¹ , Aekkachai Tuekprakhon ¹ , Beibei Wang ¹ , Guido C Paesen ² , Jose Slon-Campos ¹ , C?sar L?pez-Camacho ¹ , Bassam Hallis ⁶ , Naomi Coombes ⁶ , Kevin R Bewley ⁶ , Sue Charlton ⁶ , Thomas S Walter ² , Eleanor Barnes ⁷ , Susanna J Dunachie ⁸ , Donal Skelly ⁹ , Sheila F Lumley ¹⁰ , Natalie Baker ⁶ , Imam Shaik ⁶ , Holly E Humphries ⁶ , Kerry Godwin ⁶ , Nick Gent ⁶ , Alex Sienkiewicz ⁶ , Christina Dold ¹¹ , Robert Levin ¹² , Tao Dong ¹³ , Andrew J Pollard ¹¹ , Julian C Knight ¹⁴ , Paul Klenerman ⁷ , Derrick Crook ¹⁵ , Teresa Lambe ¹⁶ , Elizabeth Clutterbuck ¹¹ , Sagida Bibi ¹¹ , Amy Flaxman ¹⁶ , Mustapha Bittaye ¹⁶ , Sandra Belij-Rammerstorfer ¹⁶ , Sarah Gilbert ¹⁶ , David R Hall ⁵ , Mark A Williams ⁵ , Neil G Paterson ⁵ , William James ¹⁷ , Miles W Carroll ¹⁸ , Elizabeth E Fry ² , Juthathip Mongkolsapaya ¹⁹ , Jingshan Ren ²⁰ , David I Stuart ²¹ , Gavin R Screaton ²²



Affiliations

• PMID: 33743891
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.02.033

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 has caused over 2 million deaths in little over a year. Vaccines are being deployed at scale, aiming to generate responses against the virus spike. The scale of the pandemic and error-prone virus replication is leading to the appearance of mutant viruses and potentially escape from antibody responses. Variant B.1.1.7, now dominant in the UK, with increased transmission, harbors 9 amino acid changes in the spike, including N501Y in the ACE2 interacting surface. We examine the ability of B.1.1.7 to evade antibody responses elicited by natural SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination. We map the impact of N501Y by structure/function analysis of a large panel of well-characterized monoclonal antibodies. B.1.1.7 is harder to neutralize than parental virus, compromising neutralization by some members of a major class of public antibodies through light-chain contacts with residue 501. However, widespread escape from monoclonal antibodies or antibody responses generated by natural infection or vaccination was not observed.

Keywords: B.1.1.7; IGHV3-53; Kent; SARS-CoV-2; antibody; escape; neutralization; variant.