scholarly journals Redundancy and Plasticity of Neutralizing Antibody Responses Are Cornerstone Attributes of the Human Immune Response to the Smallpox Vaccine

2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (7) ◽  
pp. 3751-3768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Rafii-El-Idrissi Benhnia ◽  
Megan M. McCausland ◽  
Hua-Poo Su ◽  
Kavita Singh ◽  
Julia Hoffmann ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The smallpox vaccine is widely considered the gold standard for human vaccines, yet the key antibody targets in humans remain unclear. We endeavored to identify a stereotypic, dominant, mature virion (MV) neutralizing antibody target in humans which could be used as a diagnostic serological marker of protective humoral immunity induced by the smallpox vaccine (vaccinia virus [VACV]). We have instead found that diversity is a defining characteristic of the human antibody response to the smallpox vaccine. We show that H3 is the most immunodominant VACV neutralizing antibody target, as determined by correlation analysis of immunoglobulin G (IgG) specificities to MV neutralizing antibody titers. It was determined that purified human anti-H3 IgG is sufficient for neutralization of VACV; however, depletion or blockade of anti-H3 antibodies revealed no significant reduction in neutralization activity, showing anti-H3 IgG is not required in vaccinated humans (or mice) for neutralization of MV. Comparable results were obtained for human (and mouse) anti-L1 IgG and even for anti-H3 and anti-L1 IgG in combination. In addition to H3 and L1, human antibody responses to D8, A27, D13, and A14 exhibited statistically significant correlations with virus neutralization. Altogether, these data indicate the smallpox vaccine succeeds in generating strong neutralizing antibody responses not by eliciting a stereotypic response to a single key antigen but instead by driving development of neutralizing antibodies to multiple viral proteins, resulting in a “safety net” of highly redundant neutralizing antibody responses, the specificities of which can vary from individual to individual. We propose that this is a fundamental attribute of the smallpox vaccine.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alena J. Markmann ◽  
Natasa Giallourou ◽  
D. Ryan Bhowmik ◽  
Yixuan J. Hou ◽  
Aaron Lerner ◽  
...  

AbstractThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has now caused over 2 million deaths worldwide and continues to expand. Currently, much is unknown about functionally neutralizing human antibody responses and durability to SARS-CoV-2. Using convalescent sera collected from 101 COVID-19 recovered individuals 21-212 days after symptom onset with forty-eight additional longitudinal samples, we measured functionality and durability of serum antibodies. We also evaluated associations between individual demographic and clinical parameters with functional neutralizing antibody responses to COVID-19. We found robust antibody durability out to six months, as well as significant positive associations with the magnitude of the neutralizing antibody response and male sex. We also show that SARS-CoV-2 convalescent neutralizing antibodies are higher in individuals with cardio-metabolic comorbidities.SignificanceIn this study we found that neutralizing antibody responses in COVID-19 convalescent individuals vary in magnitude but are durable and correlate well with RBD Ig binding antibody levels compared to other SARS-CoV-2 antigen responses. In our cohort, higher neutralizing antibody titers are independently and significantly associated with male sex compared to female sex. We also show for the first time, that higher convalescent antibody titers in male donors are associated with increased age and symptom grade. Furthermore, cardio-metabolic co-morbidities are associated with higher antibody titers independently of sex. Here, we present an in-depth evaluation of serologic, demographic, and clinical correlates of functional antibody responses and durability to SARS-CoV-2.


Author(s):  
Abigail E. Powell ◽  
Kaiming Zhang ◽  
Mrinmoy Sanyal ◽  
Shaogeng Tang ◽  
Payton A. Weidenbacher ◽  
...  

AbstractDevelopment of a safe and effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccine is a public health priority. We designed subunit vaccine candidates using self-assembling ferritin nanoparticles displaying one of two multimerized SARS-CoV-2 spikes: full-length ectodomain (S-Fer) or a C-terminal 70 amino-acid deletion (SΔC-Fer). Ferritin is an attractive nanoparticle platform for production of vaccines and ferritin-based vaccines have been investigated in humans in two separate clinical trials. We confirmed proper folding and antigenicity of spike on the surface of ferritin by cryo-EM and binding to conformation-specific monoclonal antibodies. After a single immunization of mice with either of the two spike ferritin particles, a lentiviral SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus assay revealed mean neutralizing antibody titers at least 2-fold greater than those in convalescent plasma from COVID-19 patients. Additionally, a single dose of SΔC-Fer elicited significantly higher neutralizing responses as compared to immunization with the spike receptor binding domain (RBD) monomer or spike ectodomain trimer alone. After a second dose, mice immunized with SΔC-Fer exhibited higher neutralizing titers than all other groups. Taken together, these results demonstrate that multivalent presentation of SARS-CoV-2 spike on ferritin can notably enhance elicitation of neutralizing antibodies, thus constituting a viable strategy for single-dose vaccination against COVID-19.


Author(s):  
Raymond T Suhandynata ◽  
Melissa A Hoffman ◽  
Deli Huang ◽  
Jenny T Tran ◽  
Michael J Kelner ◽  
...  

Background. Currently it is unknown whether a positive serology results correlates with protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2. There are also concerns regarding the low positive predictive value of SARS-CoV-2 serology tests, especially when testing populations with low disease prevalence. Methods. A neutralization assay was validated in a set of PCR confirmed positive specimens and in a negative cohort. 9,530 specimens were screened using the Diazyme SARS-CoV-2 IgG serology assay and all positive results (N=164) were reanalyzed using the neutralization assay, the Roche total immunoglobin assay, and the Abbott IgG assay. The relationship between the magnitude of a positive SARS-CoV-2 serology result and the levels of neutralizing antibodies detected was correlated. Neutralizing antibody titers (ID50) were also longitudinally monitored in SARS-CoV-2 PCR confirmed patients. Results. The SARS-CoV-2 neutralization assay had a PPA of 96.6% with a SARS-CoV-2 PCR test and a NPA of 98.0% across 100 negative controls. ID50 neutralization titers positively correlated with all three clinical serology platforms. Longitudinal monitoring of hospitalized PCR confirmed COVID-19 patients demonstrates they made high neutralization titers against SARS-CoV-2. PPA between the Diazyme IgG assay alone and the neutralization assay was 50.6%, while combining the Diazyme IgG assay with either the Roche or Abbott platforms increased the PPA to 79.2% and 78.4%, respectively. Conclusions. For the first time, we demonstrate that three widely available clinical serology assays positively correlate with SARS-CoV-2 neutralization activity observed in COVID-19 patients. When a two-platform screen and confirm approach was used for SARS-CoV-2 serology, nearly 80% of two-platform positive specimens had neutralization titers (ID50 >50).


2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (17) ◽  
pp. 9190-9202 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Trujillo ◽  
N. M. Kumpula-McWhirter ◽  
K. J. Hötzel ◽  
M. Gonzalez ◽  
W. P. Cheevers

ABSTRACT This study evaluated type-specific and cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies induced by immunization with modified surface glycoproteins (SU) of the 63 isolate of caprine arthritis-encephalitis lentivirus (CAEV-63). Epitope mapping of sera from CAEV-infected goats localized immunodominant linear epitopes in the carboxy terminus of SU. Two modified SU (SU-M and SU-T) and wild-type CAEV-63 SU (SU-W) were produced in vaccinia virus and utilized to evaluate the effects of glycosylation or the deletion of immunodominant linear epitopes on neutralizing antibody responses induced by immunization. SU-M contained two N-linked glycosylation sites inserted into the target epitopes by R539S and E542N mutations. SU-T was truncated at 518A, upstream from the target epitopes, by introduction of termination codons at 519Y and 521Y. Six yearling Saanen goats were immunized subcutaneously with 30 μg of SU-W, SU-M, or SU-T in Quil A adjuvant and boosted at 3, 7, and 16 weeks. SU antibody titers determined by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay demonstrated anamnestic responses after each boost. Wild-type and modified SU-induced type-specific CAEV-63 neutralizing antibodies and cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies against CAEV-Co, a virus isolate closely related to CAEV-63, and CAEV-1g5, an isolate geographically distinct from CAEV-63, were determined. Immunization with SU-T resulted in altered recognition of SU linear epitopes and a 2.8- to 4.6-fold decrease in neutralizing antibody titers against CAEV-63, CAEV-Co, and CAEV-1g5 compared to titers of SU-W-immunized goats. In contrast, immunization with SU-M resulted in reduced recognition of glycosylated epitopes and a 2.4- to 2.7-fold increase in neutralizing antibody titers compared to titers of SU-W-immunized goats. Thus, the glycosylation of linear immunodominant nonneutralization epitopes, but not epitope deletion, is an effective strategy to enhance neutralizing antibody responses by immunization.


Author(s):  
Raymond T Suhandynata ◽  
Melissa A Hoffman ◽  
Deli Huang ◽  
Jenny T Tran ◽  
Michael J Kelner ◽  
...  

Abstract Background It is unknown whether a positive serology result correlates with protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2. There are also concerns regarding the low positive predictive value of SARS-CoV-2 serology tests, especially when testing populations with low disease prevalence. Methods A neutralization assay was validated in a set of PCR-confirmed positive specimens and in a negative cohort. In addition, 9530 specimens were screened using the Diazyme SARS-CoV-2 IgG serology assay and all positive results (N = 164 individuals) were reanalyzed using the neutralization assay, the Roche total immunoglobin assay, and the Abbott IgG assay. The relationship between the magnitude of a positive SARS-CoV-2 serology result and neutralizing activity was determined. Neutralizing antibody titers (50% inhibitory dilution, ID50) were also longitudinally monitored in patients confirmed to have SARS-CoV-2 by PCR. Results The SARS-CoV-2 neutralization assay had a positive percentage agreement (PPA) of 96.6% with a SARS-CoV-2 PCR test and a negative percentage agreement (NPA) of 98.0% across 100 negative control individuals. ID50 neutralization titers positively correlated with all 3 clinical serology platforms. Longitudinal monitoring of hospitalized PCR-confirmed patients with COVID-19 demonstrated they made high neutralization titers against SARS-CoV-2. PPA between the Diazyme IgG assay alone and the neutralization assay was 50.6%, while combining the Diazyme IgG assay with either the Roche or Abbott platforms increased the PPA to 79.2 and 78.4%, respectively. Conclusions These 3 clinical serology assays positively correlate with SARS-CoV-2 neutralization activity observed in patients with COVID-19. All patients confirmed SARS-CoV-2 positive by PCR develop neutralizing antibodies.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marit J. van Gils ◽  
Ayesha H.A. Lavell ◽  
Karlijn van der Straten ◽  
Brent Appelman ◽  
Ilja Bontjer ◽  
...  

Emerging and future SARS-CoV-2 variants may jeopardize the effectiveness of vaccination campaigns. We performed a head-to-head comparison of the ability of sera from individuals vaccinated with either one of four vaccines (BNT162b2, mRNA-1273, AZD1222 or Ad26.COV2.S) to recognize and neutralize the four SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs; Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta). Four weeks after completing the vaccination series, SARS-CoV-2 wild-type neutralizing antibody titers were highest in recipients of BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 (median titers of 1891 and 3061, respectively), and substantially lower in those vaccinated with the adenovirus vector-based vaccines AZD1222 and Ad26.COV2.S (median titers of 241 and 119, respectively). VOCs neutralization was reduced in all vaccine groups, with the largest (5.8-fold) reduction in neutralization being observed against the Beta variant. Overall, the mRNA vaccines appear superior to adenovirus vector-based vaccines in inducing neutralizing antibodies against VOCs four weeks after the final vaccination.


Author(s):  
Marco Mandolesi ◽  
Daniel J Sheward ◽  
Leo Hanke ◽  
Junjie Ma ◽  
Pradeepa Pushparaj ◽  
...  

The outbreak and spread of SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2), the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is a current global health emergency and a prophylactic vaccine is needed urgently. The spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 mediates entry into host cells, and thus is a target for neutralizing antibodies and vaccine design. Here we show that adjuvanted protein immunization with SARS-CoV-2 spike trimers, stabilized in prefusion conformation, results in potent antibody responses in mice and rhesus macaques with neutralizing antibody titers orders of magnitude greater than those typically measured in serum from SARS-CoV-2 seropositive humans. Neutralizing antibody responses were observed after a single dose, with exceptionally high titers achieved after boosting. Furthermore, neutralizing antibody titers elicited by a dose-sparing regimen in mice were similar to those obtained from a high dose regimen. Taken together, these data strongly support the development of adjuvanted SARS-CoV-2 prefusion-stabilized spike protein subunit vaccines.


Author(s):  
Mehul S Suthar ◽  
Matthew Zimmerman ◽  
Robert Kauffman ◽  
Grace Mantus ◽  
Susanne Linderman ◽  
...  

SARS-CoV-2 is currently causing a devastating pandemic and there is a pressing need to understand the dynamics, specificity, and neutralizing potency of the humoral immune response during acute infection. Herein, we report the dynamics of antibody responses to the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein and virus neutralization activity in 44 COVID-19 patients. RBD-specific IgG responses were detectable in all patients 6 days after PCR confirmation. Using a clinical isolate of SARS-CoV-2, neutralizing antibody titers were also detectable in all patients 6 days after PCR confirmation. The magnitude of RBD-specific IgG binding titers correlated strongly with viral neutralization. In a clinical setting, the initial analysis of the dynamics of RBD-specific IgG titers was corroborated in a larger cohort of PCR-confirmed patients (n=231). These findings have important implications for our understanding of protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2, the use of immune plasma as a therapy, and the development of much-needed vaccines.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefania Dispinseri ◽  
Massimiliano Secchi ◽  
Maria Franca Pirillo ◽  
Monica Tolazzi ◽  
Martina Borghi ◽  
...  

AbstractUnderstanding how antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 evolve during infection may provide important insight into therapeutic approaches and vaccination for COVID-19. Here we profile the antibody responses of 162 COVID-19 symptomatic patients in the COVID-BioB cohort followed longitudinally for up to eight months from symptom onset to find SARS-CoV-2 neutralization, as well as antibodies either recognizing SARS-CoV-2 spike antigens and nucleoprotein, or specific for S2 antigen of seasonal beta-coronaviruses and hemagglutinin of the H1N1 flu virus. The presence of neutralizing antibodies within the first weeks from symptoms onset correlates with time to a negative swab result (p = 0.002), while the lack of neutralizing capacity correlates with an increased risk of a fatal outcome (p = 0.008). Neutralizing antibody titers progressively drop after 5–8 weeks but are still detectable up to 8 months in the majority of recovered patients regardless of age or co-morbidities, with IgG to spike antigens providing the best correlate of neutralization. Antibody responses to seasonal coronaviruses are temporarily boosted, and parallel those to SARS-CoV-2 without dampening the specific response or worsening disease progression. Our results thus suggest compromised immune responses to the SARS-CoV-2 spike to be a major trait of COVID-19 patients with critical conditions, and thereby inform on the planning of COVID-19 patient care and therapy prioritization.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomohiro Takano ◽  
Miwa Morikawa ◽  
Yu Adachi ◽  
Kiyomi Kabasawa ◽  
Nicolas Sax ◽  
...  

Abstract Pfizer/BioNTec BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine robustly elicits neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in clinical trials and real-world settings. However, booster vaccinations are frequently associated with self-limited adverse events. Here, by applying a high-dimensional immune profiling approach to peripheral blood, we linked early vaccine-induced immune dynamics with adverse events and neutralizing antibody responses. The dynamics of two dendritic cell subsets (DC3s and AS-DCs) were identified as the specific correlates for adverse events; the combination of these cell dynamics stratified the vaccinees with severe reactogenicity, while the stratification did not affect the neutralizing antibody titers. Furthermore, the NKT-like cell dynamics that correlated with adverse events and antibody titers were accounted for distinct magnitudes of both events by sex and age. The identified immune correlates for adverse events and antibody responses may pave the way for a rational vaccine strategy for reducing the reactogenicity of mRNA vaccines without compromising the immunogenicity.


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