mAbs (Dec 2022)

Novel super-neutralizing antibody UT28K is capable of protecting against infection from a wide variety of SARS-CoV-2 variants

  • Tatsuhiko Ozawa,
  • Hideki Tani,
  • Yuki Anraku,
  • Shunsuke Kita,
  • Emiko Igarashi,
  • Yumiko Saga,
  • Noriko Inasaki,
  • Hitoshi Kawasuji,
  • Hiroshi Yamada,
  • so-Ichiro Sasaki,
  • Mayu Somekawa,
  • Jiei Sasaki,
  • Yoshihiro Hayakawa,
  • Yoshihiro Yamamoto,
  • Yoshitomo Morinaga,
  • Nobuyuki Kurosawa,
  • Masaharu Isobe,
  • Hideo Fukuhara,
  • Katsumi Maenaka,
  • Takao Hashiguchi,
  • Hiroyuki Kishi,
  • Isao Kitajima,
  • Shigeru Saito,
  • Hideki Niimi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/19420862.2022.2072455
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 1

Abstract

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Many potent neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 antibodies have been developed and used for therapies. However, the effectiveness of many antibodies has been reduced against recently emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, especially the Omicron variant. We identified a highly potent SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody, UT28K, in COVID-19 convalescent individuals who recovered from a severe condition. UT28K showed efficacy in neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 in an in vitro assay and in vivo prophylactic treatment, and the reactivity to the Omicron strain was reduced. The structural analyses revealed that antibody UT28K Fab and SARS-CoV-2 RBD protein interactions were mainly chain-dominated antigen-antibody interactions. In addition, a mutation analysis suggested that the emergence of a UT28K neutralization-resistant SARS-CoV-2 variant was unlikely, as this variant would likely lose its competitive advantage over circulating SARS-CoV-2. Our data suggest that UT28K offers potent protection against SARS-CoV-2, including newly emerging variants.

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