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Npj Viruses . SARS-CoV-2 crossreactive B-cells outnumber seasonal coronavirus spike-specific clones at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic

tetano

Editor, Senior Moderator
Npj Viruses


. 2026 Mar 19;4(1):19.
doi: 10.1038/s44298-026-00185-6.
SARS-CoV-2 crossreactive B-cells outnumber seasonal coronavirus spike-specific clones at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic

Cristina Gonzalez-Lopez[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Muriel Aguilar-Bretones[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Julian Reinders[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jingshu Zhang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Petra van den Doel[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Batuhan Bekki[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Eric C van Gorp[SUP] 1 [/SUP], P Hugo M van der Kuy[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Bart L Haagmans[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Corine H GeurtsVanKessel[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Marion P G Koopmans[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rory D de Vries[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Marit J van Gils[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Gijsbert P van Nierop[SUP] 4 [/SUP]


Affiliations
Abstract

How B-cell responses towards seasonal human coronaviruses (sHCoVs) impacted those towards SARS-CoV-2 has been widely studied, yet potential reverse effects are ill-defined. We compared sHCoV immune responses between cross-sectional pre-pandemic and end-pandemic cohorts of immunocompetent adults. We assessed Spike (S) reactive IgG and IgA serum and B-cell responses towards sHCoVs and dominant SARS-CoV-2 variants, and evaluated their contribution to OC43 neutralization. Pre-pandemic individuals were uniformly sHCoV IgG and IgA seropositive, yet SARS-CoV-2 S-reactivity was negligible. End-pandemic donors, had predominant SARS-CoV-2 responses that in part cross-reacted with sHCoV which accounted for higher serum NL63, HKU1 and OC43 antibody levels. This effect was strongest for OC43 S2 and this cross-reactive response contributed to OC43 serum neutralization. We conclude that SARS-CoV-2-specific immune responses impacted sHCoVs responses, particularly for OC43. This could have implications for immune protection and offers insights for the development of pan-coronavirus treatments and vaccines.


 
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