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Abayasingam A, Balachandran H, Agapiou D, Hammoud M, Rodrigo C, Keoshkerian E, Li H, Brasher NA, Christ D, Rouet R, Burnet D, Grubor-Bauk B, Rawlinson W, Turville S, Aggarwal A, Stella AO, Fichter C, Brilot F, Mina M, Post JJ, Hudson B, Gilroy N, Dwyer D, Sasson SC, Tea F, Pilli D, Kelleher A, Tedla N, Lloyd AR, Martinello M, Bull RA. Long-term persistence of RBD + memory B cells encoding neutralizing antibodies in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Cell Rep Med 2021; 2:100228. [PMID: 33748788 PMCID: PMC7955929 DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2021.100228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2020] [Revised: 02/08/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Considerable concerns relating to the duration of protective immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) exist, with evidence of antibody titers declining rapidly after infection and reports of reinfection. Here, we monitor the antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) for up to 6 months after infection. While antibody titers are maintained, ∼13% of the cohort’s neutralizing responses return to background. However, encouragingly, in a selected subset of 13 participants, 12 have detectable RBD-specific memory B cells and these generally are increasing out to 6 months. Furthermore, we are able to generate monoclonal antibodies with SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing capacity from these memory B cells. Overall, our study suggests that the loss of neutralizing antibodies in plasma may be countered by the maintenance of neutralizing capacity in the memory B cell repertoire. Decay of antibody binding to RBD and spike antigen after 6 months 11 of 81 (13.6%) participants revert to background neutralizing levels Despite declining antibody titers, robust memory B cell populations are observed Memory B cells retain potent neutralizing capacity
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Affiliation(s)
- Arunasingam Abayasingam
- School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- The Kirby Institute, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Harikrishnan Balachandran
- School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- The Kirby Institute, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - David Agapiou
- The Kirby Institute, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | | | - Chaturaka Rodrigo
- School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- The Kirby Institute, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | | | - Hui Li
- The Kirby Institute, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Nicholas A. Brasher
- School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- The Kirby Institute, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Daniel Christ
- Garvan Institute of Medical Research, 384 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst 2010, NSW, Australia
| | - Romain Rouet
- Garvan Institute of Medical Research, 384 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst 2010, NSW, Australia
| | - Deborah Burnet
- Garvan Institute of Medical Research, 384 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst 2010, NSW, Australia
| | - Branka Grubor-Bauk
- Virology Laboratory, Discipline of Surgery, The University of Adelaide and Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Health Research, Adelaide 5011, SA, Australia
| | - William Rawlinson
- School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Serology and Virology Division, Department of Microbiology, NSW Health Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | | | | | | | | | - Fabienne Brilot
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Brain Autoimmunity Group, Kids Neurosciences Centre, Kids Research at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Michael Mina
- Northern Beaches Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Jeffrey J. Post
- Prince of Wales Clinical School, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW Australia
| | | | | | | | | | - Fiona Tea
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Brain Autoimmunity Group, Kids Neurosciences Centre, Kids Research at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Deepti Pilli
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Brain Autoimmunity Group, Kids Neurosciences Centre, Kids Research at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | | | - Nicodemus Tedla
- School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | | | - Marianne Martinello
- The Kirby Institute, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Westmead Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Blacktown Mt Druitt Hospital, Blacktown, NSW, Australia
| | - Rowena A. Bull
- School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- The Kirby Institute, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Corresponding author
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