Cell Reports Medicine (Jun 2020)
Rapid Generation of Neutralizing Antibody Responses in COVID-19 Patients
- Mehul S. Suthar,
- Matthew G. Zimmerman,
- Robert C. Kauffman,
- Grace Mantus,
- Susanne L. Linderman,
- William H. Hudson,
- Abigail Vanderheiden,
- Lindsay Nyhoff,
- Carl W. Davis,
- Oluwaseyi Adekunle,
- Maurizio Affer,
- Melanie Sherman,
- Stacian Reynolds,
- Hans P. Verkerke,
- David N. Alter,
- Jeannette Guarner,
- Janetta Bryksin,
- Michael C. Horwath,
- Connie M. Arthur,
- Natia Saakadze,
- Geoffrey H. Smith,
- Srilatha Edupuganti,
- Erin M. Scherer,
- Kieffer Hellmeister,
- Andrew Cheng,
- Juliet A. Morales,
- Andrew S. Neish,
- Sean R. Stowell,
- Filipp Frank,
- Eric Ortlund,
- Evan J. Anderson,
- Vineet D. Menachery,
- Nadine Rouphael,
- Aneesh K. Mehta,
- David S. Stephens,
- Rafi Ahmed,
- John D. Roback,
- Jens Wrammert
Affiliations
- Mehul S. Suthar
- Center for Childhood Infections and Vaccines; Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University Department of Pediatrics, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA; Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA; Corresponding author
- Matthew G. Zimmerman
- Center for Childhood Infections and Vaccines; Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University Department of Pediatrics, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA; Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA
- Robert C. Kauffman
- Center for Childhood Infections and Vaccines; Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University Department of Pediatrics, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA
- Grace Mantus
- Center for Childhood Infections and Vaccines; Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University Department of Pediatrics, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA
- Susanne L. Linderman
- Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- William H. Hudson
- Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Abigail Vanderheiden
- Center for Childhood Infections and Vaccines; Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University Department of Pediatrics, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA; Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA
- Lindsay Nyhoff
- Center for Childhood Infections and Vaccines; Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University Department of Pediatrics, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA
- Carl W. Davis
- Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Oluwaseyi Adekunle
- Center for Childhood Infections and Vaccines; Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University Department of Pediatrics, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA
- Maurizio Affer
- Center for Childhood Infections and Vaccines; Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University Department of Pediatrics, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA
- Melanie Sherman
- Emory Medical Laboratories, Emory Healthcare, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Stacian Reynolds
- Emory Medical Laboratories, Emory Healthcare, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Hans P. Verkerke
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- David N. Alter
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Jeannette Guarner
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Janetta Bryksin
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Michael C. Horwath
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Connie M. Arthur
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Natia Saakadze
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Geoffrey H. Smith
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Srilatha Edupuganti
- Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine Decatur, Atlanta, GA, USA; Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Erin M. Scherer
- Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine Decatur, Atlanta, GA, USA; Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Kieffer Hellmeister
- Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine Decatur, Atlanta, GA, USA; Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Andrew Cheng
- Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine Decatur, Atlanta, GA, USA; Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Juliet A. Morales
- Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine Decatur, Atlanta, GA, USA; Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Andrew S. Neish
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Sean R. Stowell
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Filipp Frank
- Department of Biochemistry, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Eric Ortlund
- Department of Biochemistry, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Evan J. Anderson
- Center for Childhood Infections and Vaccines; Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University Department of Pediatrics, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Vineet D. Menachery
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute for Human Infection and Immunity, World Reference Center for Emerging Viruses and Arboviruses, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA
- Nadine Rouphael
- Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine Decatur, Atlanta, GA, USA; Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Aneesh K. Mehta
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- David S. Stephens
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Rafi Ahmed
- Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- John D. Roback
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Jens Wrammert
- Center for Childhood Infections and Vaccines; Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University Department of Pediatrics, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA; Corresponding author
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 1,
no. 3
p. 100040
Abstract
Summary: SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, is causing a devastating worldwide pandemic, and there is a pressing need to understand the development, specificity, and neutralizing potency of humoral immune responses during acute infection. We report a cross-sectional study of antibody responses to the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein and virus neutralization activity in a cohort of 44 hospitalized COVID-19 patients. RBD-specific IgG responses are detectable in all patients 6 days after PCR confirmation. Isotype switching to IgG occurs rapidly, primarily to IgG1 and IgG3. Using a clinical SARS-CoV-2 isolate, neutralizing antibody titers are detectable in all patients by 6 days after PCR confirmation and correlate with RBD-specific binding IgG titers. The RBD-specific binding data were further validated in a clinical setting with 231 PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patient samples. These findings have implications for understanding protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2, therapeutic use of immune plasma, and development of much-needed vaccines.
