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

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish
Article number102489
JournaliScience
Volume24
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 25 Jun 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Immunology
  • Infection control in health technology
  • Virology

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