Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2-Specific IgY Antibodies: Production, Reactivity, and Neutralizing Capability Against Virus Variants

Overview

Journal Int J Mol Sci

Publisher MDPI

Specialties Biochemistry
Chemistry
Molecular Biology

Date 2024 Jul 27

PMID 39063218

Authors

Jacob Schon

Andrea Aebischer

Nico Joel Halwe

Lorenz Ulrich

Donata Hoffmann

Sven Reiche

Martin Beer

Christian Grund

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in late 2019 initiated a global pandemic, which led to a need for effective therapeutics and diagnostic tools, including virus-specific antibodies. Here, we investigate different antigen preparations to produce SARS-CoV-2-specific and virus-neutralizing antibodies in chickens (n = 3/antigen) and rabbits (n = 2/antigen), exploring, in particular, egg yolk for large-scale production of immunoglobulin Y (IgY). Reactivity profiles of IgY preparations from chicken sera and yolk and rabbit sera were tested in parallel. We compared three types of antigens based on ancestral SARS-CoV-2: an inactivated whole-virus preparation, an S1 spike-protein subunit (S1 antigen) and a receptor-binding domain (RBD antigen, amino acids 319-519) coated on lumazine synthase (LS) particles using SpyCather/SpyTag technology. The RBD antigen proved to be the most efficient immunogen, and the resulting chicken IgY antibodies derived from serum or yolk, displayed strong reactivity with ELISA and indirect immunofluorescence and broad neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Omicron BA.1 and BA.5. Preliminary in vivo studies using RBD-lumazine synthase yolk preparations in a hamster model showed that local application was well tolerated and not harmful. However, despite the in vitro neutralizing capacity, this antibody preparation did not show protective effect. Further studies on galenic properties seem to be necessary. The RBD-lumazine antigen proved to be suitable for producing SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies that can be applied to such therapeutic approaches and as reference reagents for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics, including virus neutralization assays.

Citing Articles

Evaluating the Protective Role of Intranasally Administered Avian-Derived IgY Against SARS-CoV-2 in Syrian Hamster Models.

Madai M, Hanna D, Hetenyi R, Foldes F, Lanszki Z, Zana B Vaccines (Basel). 2025; 12(12.

PMID: 39772082 PMC: 11728625. DOI: 10.3390/vaccines12121422.

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