Cell Reports (Jul 2021)

A SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody selected from COVID-19 patients binds to the ACE2-RBD interface and is tolerant to most known RBD mutations

  • Federico Bertoglio,
  • Viola Fühner,
  • Maximilian Ruschig,
  • Philip Alexander Heine,
  • Leila Abassi,
  • Thomas Klünemann,
  • Ulfert Rand,
  • Doris Meier,
  • Nora Langreder,
  • Stephan Steinke,
  • Rico Ballmann,
  • Kai-Thomas Schneider,
  • Kristian Daniel Ralph Roth,
  • Philipp Kuhn,
  • Peggy Riese,
  • Dorina Schäckermann,
  • Janin Korn,
  • Allan Koch,
  • M. Zeeshan Chaudhry,
  • Kathrin Eschke,
  • Yeonsu Kim,
  • Susanne Zock-Emmenthal,
  • Marlies Becker,
  • Margitta Scholz,
  • Gustavo Marçal Schmidt Garcia Moreira,
  • Esther Veronika Wenzel,
  • Giulio Russo,
  • Hendrikus S.P. Garritsen,
  • Sebastian Casu,
  • Andreas Gerstner,
  • Günter Roth,
  • Julia Adler,
  • Jakob Trimpert,
  • Andreas Hermann,
  • Thomas Schirrmann,
  • Stefan Dübel,
  • André Frenzel,
  • Joop Van den Heuvel,
  • Luka Čičin-Šain,
  • Maren Schubert,
  • Michael Hust

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 36, no. 4
p. 109433

Abstract

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Summary: The novel betacoronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes a form of severe pneumonia disease called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). To develop human neutralizing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, antibody gene libraries from convalescent COVID-19 patients were constructed and recombinant antibody fragments (scFv) against the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein were selected by phage display. The antibody STE90-C11 shows a subnanometer IC50 in a plaque-based live SARS-CoV-2 neutralization assay. The in vivo efficacy of the antibody is demonstrated in the Syrian hamster and in the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) mice model. The crystal structure of STE90-C11 Fab in complex with SARS-CoV-2-RBD is solved at 2.0 Å resolution showing that the antibody binds at the same region as ACE2 to RBD. The binding and inhibition of STE90-C11 is not blocked by many known emerging RBD mutations. STE90-C11-derived human IgG1 with FcγR-silenced Fc (COR-101) is undergoing Phase Ib/II clinical trials for the treatment of moderate to severe COVID-19.

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