Serologic Cross-Reactivity of SARS-CoV-2 with Endemic and Seasonal Betacoronaviruses

Jennifer Hicks; Carleen Klumpp-Thomas; Heather Kalish; Anandakumar Shunmugavel; Jennifer Mehalko; John-Paul Denson; Kelly R Snead; Matthew Drew; Kizzmekia S Corbett; Barney S Graham; Matthew D Hall; Matthew J Memoli; Dominic Esposito; Kaitlyn Sadtler

doi:10.1007/s10875-021-00997-6

Serologic Cross-Reactivity of SARS-CoV-2 with Endemic and Seasonal Betacoronaviruses

J Clin Immunol. 2021 Jul;41(5):906-913. doi: 10.1007/s10875-021-00997-6. Epub 2021 Mar 16.

Authors

Jennifer Hicks^#^{1

2}, Carleen Klumpp-Thomas^#³, Heather Kalish^#^{1

2}, Anandakumar Shunmugavel², Jennifer Mehalko⁴, John-Paul Denson⁴, Kelly R Snead⁴, Matthew Drew⁴, Kizzmekia S Corbett⁵, Barney S Graham⁵, Matthew D Hall³, Matthew J Memoli⁶, Dominic Esposito⁴, Kaitlyn Sadtler⁷

Affiliations

¹ Trans-NIH Shared Resource on Biomedical Engineering and Physical Science, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20894, USA.
² Section on Immuno-Engineering, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
³ National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, 20850, USA.
⁴ Protein Expression Laboratory, NCI RAS Initiative, Cancer Research Technology Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA.
⁵ Vaccine Research Center, National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
⁶ LID Clinical Studies Unit, Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20894, USA.
⁷ Section on Immuno-Engineering, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA. [email protected].

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

In order to properly understand the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection and development of humoral immunity, researchers have evaluated the presence of serum antibodies of people worldwide experiencing the pandemic. These studies rely on the use of recombinant proteins from the viral genome in order to identify serum antibodies that recognize SARS-CoV-2 epitopes. Here, we discuss the cross-reactivity potential of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies with the full spike proteins of four other betacoronaviruses that cause disease in humans, MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, HCoV-OC43, and HCoV-HKU1. Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), we detected the potential cross-reactivity of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 towards the four other coronaviruses, with the strongest cross-recognition between SARS-CoV-2 and SARS /MERS-CoV antibodies, as expected based on sequence homology of their respective spike proteins. Further analysis of cross-reactivity could provide informative data that could lead to intelligently designed pan-coronavirus therapeutics or vaccines.

Keywords: Coronavirus; Infectious disease; Serology.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Antibodies, Viral / blood
Betacoronavirus / immunology*
Cross Reactions
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Humans
Middle Aged
SARS-CoV-2 / immunology*
Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus / immunology
Young Adult

Substances

Antibodies, Viral
Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding