Evidence of Escape of SARS-CoV-2 Variant B.1.351 from Natural and Vaccine-induced Sera

Overview

Journal Cell

Publisher Cell Press

Specialty Cell Biology

Date 2021 Mar 17

PMID 33730597

Citations 664

Authors

Daming Zhou

Wanwisa Dejnirattisai

Piyada Supasa

Chang Liu

Alexander J Mentzer

Helen M Ginn

Yuguang Zhao

Helen M E Duyvesteyn

Aekkachai Tuekprakhon

Rungtiwa Nutalai

Beibei Wang

Guido C Paesen

Cesar Lopez-Camacho

Jose Slon-Campos

Bassam Hallis

Naomi Coombes

Kevin Bewley

Sue Charlton

Thomas S Walter

Donal Skelly

Sheila F Lumley

Christina Dold

Robert Levin

Tao Dong

Andrew J Pollard

Julian C Knight

Derrick Crook

Teresa Lambe

Elizabeth Clutterbuck

Sagida Bibi

Amy Flaxman

Mustapha Bittaye

Sandra Belij-Rammerstorfer

Sarah Gilbert

William James

Miles W Carroll

Paul Klenerman

Eleanor Barnes

Susanna J Dunachie

Elizabeth E Fry

Juthathip Mongkolsapaya

Jingshan Ren

David I Stuart

Gavin R Screaton

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The race to produce vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) began when the first sequence was published, and this forms the basis for vaccines currently deployed globally. Independent lineages of SARS-CoV-2 have recently been reported: UK, B.1.1.7; South Africa, B.1.351; and Brazil, P.1. These variants have multiple changes in the immunodominant spike protein that facilitates viral cell entry via the angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) receptor. Mutations in the receptor recognition site on the spike are of great concern for their potential for immune escape. Here, we describe a structure-function analysis of B.1.351 using a large cohort of convalescent and vaccinee serum samples. The receptor-binding domain mutations provide tighter ACE2 binding and widespread escape from monoclonal antibody neutralization largely driven by E484K, although K417N and N501Y act together against some important antibody classes. In a number of cases, it would appear that convalescent and some vaccine serum offers limited protection against this variant.

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