Potent neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 by human antibody heavy-chain variable domains isolated from a large library with a new stable scaffold

Effective therapies are urgently needed for COVID-19. Here we describe the identification of a new stable human immunoglobulin G1 heavy-chain variable (VH) domain scaffold that was used for the construction of a large library, lCAT6, of engineered human VHs. This library was panned against the recep...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zehua Sun (Author), Chuan Chen (Author), Wei Li (Author), David R. Martinez (Author), Aleksandra Drelich (Author), Du-San Baek (Author), Xianglei Liu (Author), John W. Mellors (Author), Chien-Te Tseng (Author), Ralph S. Baric (Author), Dimiter S. Dimitrov (Author)
Format: Book
Published: Taylor & Francis Group, 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z.
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Summary:Effective therapies are urgently needed for COVID-19. Here we describe the identification of a new stable human immunoglobulin G1 heavy-chain variable (VH) domain scaffold that was used for the construction of a large library, lCAT6, of engineered human VHs. This library was panned against the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein. Two VH domains (VH ab6 and VH m397) were selected and fused to Fc for increased half-life in circulation. The VH-Fc ab6 and m397 specifically neutralized SARS-CoV-2 with high potencies (50% neutralization at 0.35 µg/ml and 1.5 µg/ml, respectively) as measured by two independent replication-competent virus neutralization assays. Ab6 and m397 competed with ACE2 for binding to RBD, suggesting a competitive mechanism of virus neutralization. These VH domains may have potential applications for prophylaxis and therapy of COVID-19 alone or in combination, as well as for diagnosis and as tools for research.
Item Description:10.1080/19420862.2020.1778435
1942-0870
1942-0862