Cross-reactive antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 and seasonal common cold coronaviruses

Thomas Vogl, Shelley Klompus, Sigal Leviathan, Iris Kalka, Anastasia Godneva, Eilat Shinar, Adina Weinberger, Eran Segal

doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.01.20182220

This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review [what does this mean?]. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice.

PDF: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.01.20182220v1.full.pdf

Abstract

While cross-reactive T cells epitopes of SARS-CoV-2 and seasonal/common cold human coronaviruses (hCoVs) have been reported in individuals unexposed to SARS-CoV-2, potential antibody-based cross-reactivity is incompletely understood. Here, we have probed for high resolution antibody binding against all hCoVs represented as 1,539 peptides with a phage-displayed antigen library. We detected broad serum antibody responses against peptides of seasonal hCoVs in up to 75% of individuals. Recovered COVID-19 patients exhibited distinct antibody repertoires targeting variable SARS-CoV-2 epitopes, and could be accurately classified from unexposed individuals (AUC=0.96). Up to 50% of recovered patients also mounted antibody responses against unique epitopes of seasonal hCoV-OC43, that were not detectable in unexposed individuals. These results indicate substantial interindividual variability and antibody cross-reactivity between hCoVs from the direction of SARS-CoV-2 infections towards seasonal hCoVs. Our accurate high throughput assay allows profiling preexisting antibody responses against seasonal hCoVs cost-effectively and could inform on their protective nature against SARS-CoV-2.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Funding Statement

E.S.s COVID-19 research is supported by the Seerave Foundation. T.V. is supported by an Erwin Schroedinger fellowship (J 4256) from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.01.20182220v1