SARS-CoV-2 antibody signatures robustly predict diverse antiviral functions relevant for convalescent plasma therapy

Harini Natarajan; Andrew R Crowley; Savannah E Butler; Shiwei Xu; Joshua A Weiner; Evan M Bloch; Kirsten Littlefield; Wendy Wieland-Alter; Ruth I Connor; Peter F Wright; Sarah E Benner; Tania S Bonny; Oliver Laeyendecker; David Sullivan; Shmuel Shoham; Thomas C Quinn; H Benjamin Larman; Arturo Casadevall; Andrew Pekosz; Andrew D Redd; Aaron A R Tobian; Margaret E Ackerman

doi:10.1101/2020.09.16.20196154

SARS-CoV-2 antibody signatures robustly predict diverse antiviral functions relevant for convalescent plasma therapy

medRxiv [Preprint]. 2020 Sep 18:2020.09.16.20196154. doi: 10.1101/2020.09.16.20196154.

Authors

Harini Natarajan¹, Andrew R Crowley¹, Savannah E Butler¹, Shiwei Xu², Joshua A Weiner², Evan M Bloch³, Kirsten Littlefield⁴, Wendy Wieland-Alter⁵, Ruth I Connor⁵, Peter F Wright⁵, Sarah E Benner³, Tania S Bonny³, Oliver Laeyendecker^{6

7}, David Sullivan^{4

6}, Shmuel Shoham⁶, Thomas C Quinn^{6

7}, H Benjamin Larman³, Arturo Casadevall^{4

6}, Andrew Pekosz⁴, Andrew D Redd^{6

7}, Aaron A R Tobian³, Margaret E Ackerman^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA.
² Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA.
³ Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁴ W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁵ Department of Pediatrics, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, USA.
⁶ Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁷ Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.

Abstract

Convalescent plasma has emerged as a promising COVID-19 treatment. However, the humoral factors that contribute to efficacy are poorly understood. This study functionally and phenotypically profiled plasma from eligible convalescent donors. In addition to viral neutralization, convalescent plasma contained antibodies capable of mediating such Fc-dependent functions as complement activation, phagocytosis and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity against SARS-CoV-2. These activities expand the antiviral functions associated with convalescent plasma and together with neutralization efficacy, could be accurately and robustly from antibody phenotypes. These results suggest that high-throughput profiling could be used to screen donors and plasma may provide benefits beyond neutralization.

Keywords: ADCC; COVID-19; Convalescent plasma; SARS-CoV-2; functional antibody response; neutralization; phagocytosis.

Publication types

Preprint

Abstract

Publication types

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