SARS-CoV-2 501Y.V2 escapes neutralization by South African COVID-19 donor plasma

Constantinos Kurt Wibmer; Frances Ayres; Tandile Hermanus; Mashudu Madzivhandila; Prudence Kgagudi; Brent Oosthuysen; Bronwen E Lambson; Tulio de Oliveira; Marion Vermeulen; Karin van der Berg; Theresa Rossouw; Michael Boswell; Veronica Ueckermann; Susan Meiring; Anne von Gottberg; Cheryl Cohen; Lynn Morris; Jinal N Bhiman; Penny L Moore

doi:10.1101/2021.01.18.427166

SARS-CoV-2 501Y.V2 escapes neutralization by South African COVID-19 donor plasma

bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2021 Mar 1:2021.01.18.427166. doi: 10.1101/2021.01.18.427166.

Authors

Constantinos Kurt Wibmer¹, Frances Ayres¹, Tandile Hermanus¹, Mashudu Madzivhandila¹, Prudence Kgagudi¹, Brent Oosthuysen¹, Bronwen E Lambson^{1

2}, Tulio de Oliveira³, Marion Vermeulen⁴, Karin van der Berg^{4

5}, Theresa Rossouw⁶, Michael Boswell⁷, Veronica Ueckermann⁷, Susan Meiring¹, Anne von Gottberg^{1

8}, Cheryl Cohen^{1

9}, Lynn Morris^{1

2}, Jinal N Bhiman^{1

10}, Penny L Moore^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), Johannesburg, South Africa.
² Antibody Immunity Research Unit, School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
³ KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP), Department of Laboratory Medicine & Medical Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
⁴ South African National Blood Service, Weltevreden Park, South Africa.
⁵ Division of Clinical Haematology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁶ Department of Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
⁷ Division for Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Steve Biko Academic Hospital and University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
⁸ Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
⁹ School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
¹⁰ Department of Virology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 501Y.V2 (B.1.351), a novel lineage of coronavirus causing COVID-19, contains substitutions in two immunodominant domains of the spike protein. Here, we show that pseudovirus expressing 501Y.V2 spike protein completely escapes three classes of therapeutically relevant antibodies. This pseudovirus also exhibits substantial to complete escape from neutralization, but not binding, by convalescent plasma. These data highlight the prospect of reinfection with antigenically distinct variants and foreshadows reduced efficacy of spike-based vaccines.

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