A rapid and efficient screening system for neutralizing antibodies and its application for SARS-CoV-2

X Han, Y Wang, S Li, C Hu, T Li, C Gu, K Wang… - Frontiers in …, 2021 - frontiersin.org
X Han, Y Wang, S Li, C Hu, T Li, C Gu, K Wang, M Shen, J Wang, J Hu, R Wu, S Mu, F Gong…
Frontiers in immunology, 2021frontiersin.org
After the pandemic of COVID-19, neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) against SARS-CoV-2 have
been developed for the prophylactic and therapeutic purposes. However, few
methodologies are described in detail on how to rapidly and efficiently generate effective
NAbs to SARS-CoV-2. Here, we integrated and optimized a strategically screening method
for NAbs, which has enabled us to obtain SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD)
specific NAbs within 6 days, followed by additional 9 days for antibody production and …
After the pandemic of COVID-19, neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) against SARS-CoV-2 have been developed for the prophylactic and therapeutic purposes. However, few methodologies are described in detail on how to rapidly and efficiently generate effective NAbs to SARS-CoV-2. Here, we integrated and optimized a strategically screening method for NAbs, which has enabled us to obtain SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) specific NAbs within 6 days, followed by additional 9 days for antibody production and function analysis. Using this method, we obtained 198 specific Abs against SARS-CoV-2 RBD from the blood samples of COVID-19 convalescent patients, and 96 of them showed neutralizing activity. At least 20% of these NAbs exhibited advanced neutralizing potency and high affinity, with the top two NAbs showing half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) to block authentic SARS-CoV-2 at 9.88 and 11.13 ng/ml, respectively. Altogether, our study provides an effective methodology with high applicable value for discovering potential preventative and therapeutic NAbs for the emerging infectious diseases.
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