iScience (Jun 2021)
Comparative analysis of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 between asymptomatic and convalescent patients
- Connor J. Dwyer,
- Colleen A. Cloud,
- Cindy Wang,
- Philip Heidt,
- Paramita Chakraborty,
- Tara F. Duke,
- Shannon McGue,
- Braxton Jeffcoat,
- Jaclyn Dunne,
- Logan Johnson,
- Seungho Choi,
- Georges J. Nahhas,
- Amy S. Gandy,
- Nikolina Babic,
- Frederick S. Nolte,
- Philip Howe,
- Besim Ogretmen,
- Vamsi K. Gangaraju,
- Stephen Tomlinson,
- Brian Madden,
- Tracy Bridges,
- Patrick A. Flume,
- John Wrangle,
- Mark P. Rubinstein,
- Prabhakar K. Baliga,
- Satish N. Nadig,
- Shikhar Mehrotra
Affiliations
- Connor J. Dwyer
- Department of Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Colleen A. Cloud
- Department of Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Cindy Wang
- Department of Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Philip Heidt
- Department of Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Paramita Chakraborty
- Department of Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Tara F. Duke
- Department of Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Shannon McGue
- Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Braxton Jeffcoat
- Department of Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Jaclyn Dunne
- Department of Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Logan Johnson
- Department of Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Seungho Choi
- Department of Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Georges J. Nahhas
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Amy S. Gandy
- Clinical and Translational Research Center,Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Nikolina Babic
- Laboratory and Pathology Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Frederick S. Nolte
- Laboratory and Pathology Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Philip Howe
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Besim Ogretmen
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Vamsi K. Gangaraju
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Stephen Tomlinson
- Microbiology & Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Brian Madden
- The Blood Connection, 1099 Bracken Road, Piedmont, SC 29673, USA
- Tracy Bridges
- The Blood Connection, 1099 Bracken Road, Piedmont, SC 29673, USA
- Patrick A. Flume
- Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- John Wrangle
- Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Mark P. Rubinstein
- Department of Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Prabhakar K. Baliga
- Department of Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
- Satish N. Nadig
- Department of Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA; Corresponding author
- Shikhar Mehrotra
- Department of Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 86 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA; Corresponding author
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 24,
no. 6
p. 102489
Abstract
Summary: The SARS-CoV-2 viral pandemic has induced a global health crisis, which requires more in-depth investigation into immunological responses to develop effective treatments and vaccines. To understand protective immunity against COVID-19, we screened over 60,000 asymptomatic individuals in the Southeastern United States for IgG antibody positivity against the viral Spike protein, and approximately 3% were positive. Of these 3%, individuals with the highest anti-S or anti-RBD IgG level showed a strong correlation with inhibition of ACE2 binding and cross-reactivity against non-SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus S-proteins. We also analyzed samples from 94 SARS-CoV-2 patients and compared them with those of asymptomatic individuals. SARS-CoV-2 symptomatic patients had decreased antibody responses, ACE2 binding inhibition, and antibody cross-reactivity. Our study shows that healthy individuals can mount robust immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 without symptoms. Furthermore, IgG antibody responses against S and RBD may correlate with high inhibition of ACE2 binding in individuals tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection or post vaccination.
