Evidence for retained spike-binding and neutralizing activity against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants in serum of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine recipients
Juan Manuel Carreño,
Hala Alshammary,
Gagandeep Singh,
Ariel Raskin,
Fatima Amanat,
Angela Amoako,
Ana Silvia Gonzalez-Reiche,
Adriana van de Guchte,
PARIS study group,
Komal Srivastava,
Emilia Mia Sordillo,
D. Noah Sather,
Harm van Bakel,
Florian Krammer,
Viviana Simon
Affiliations
Juan Manuel Carreño
Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
Hala Alshammary
Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
Gagandeep Singh
Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
Ariel Raskin
Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
Fatima Amanat
Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
Angela Amoako
Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
Ana Silvia Gonzalez-Reiche
Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Adriana van de Guchte
Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
PARIS study group
Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
Komal Srivastava
Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
Emilia Mia Sordillo
Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cell Based Medicine Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
D. Noah Sather
Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, United States; Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
Harm van Bakel
Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Icahn Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Corresponding author at: Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA.
Florian Krammer
Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cell Based Medicine Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Corresponding authors at: Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Viviana Simon
Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cell Based Medicine Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; The Global Health and Emerging Pathogen Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Corresponding authors at: Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Background: Highly efficacious vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been developed. However, the emergence of viral variants that are more infectious than the earlier SARS-CoV-2 strains is concerning. Several of these viral variants have the potential to partially escape neutralizing antibody responses, warranting continued immune-monitoring. Methods: We used a panel of 30 post-mRNA vaccination sera to determine neutralization and RBD and spike binding activity against a number of emerging viral variants. The virus neutralization was determined using authentic SARS-CoV-2 clinical isolates in an assay format that mimics physiological conditions. Findings: We tested seven currently circulating viral variants of concern/interest, including the three Iota sublineages, Alpha (E484K), Beta, Delta and Lambda in neutralization assays. We found only small decreases in neutralization against Iota and Delta. The reduction was stronger against a sub-variant of Lambda, followed by Beta and Alpha (E484K). Lambda is currently circulating in parts of Latin America and was detected in Germany, the US and Israel. Of note, reduction in a receptor binding domain and spike binding assay that also included Gamma, Kappa and A.23.1 was negligible. Interpretation: Taken together, these findings suggest that mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccines may remain effective against these viral variants of concern/interest and that spike binding antibody tests likely retain specificity in the face of evolving SARS-CoV-2 diversity. Funding: This work is part of the PARIS/SPARTA studies funded by the NIAID Collaborative Influenza Vaccine Innovation Centers (CIVIC) contract 75N93019C00051. In addition, this work was also partially funded by the Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance (CEIRS, contract # HHSN272201400008C), the JPB Foundation, the Open Philanthropy Project (research grant 2020-215611 (5384), by anonymous donors and by the Serological Sciences Network (SeroNet) in part with Federal funds from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, under Contract No. 75N91019D00024, Task Order No. 75N91020F00003.
