TY - JOUR
T1 - Three exposures to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 by either infection or vaccination elicit superior neutralizing immunity to all variants of concern
AU - Wratil, Paul R.
AU - Stern, Marcel
AU - Priller, Alina
AU - Willmann, Annika
AU - Almanzar, Giovanni
AU - Vogel, Emanuel
AU - Feuerherd, Martin
AU - Cheng, Cho Chin
AU - Yazici, Sarah
AU - Christa, Catharina
AU - Jeske, Samuel
AU - Lupoli, Gaia
AU - Vogt, Tim
AU - Albanese, Manuel
AU - Mejías-Pérez, Ernesto
AU - Bauernfried, Stefan
AU - Graf, Natalia
AU - Mijocevic, Hrvoje
AU - Vu, Martin
AU - Tinnefeld, Kathrin
AU - Wettengel, Jochen
AU - Hoffmann, Dieter
AU - Muenchhoff, Maximilian
AU - Daechert, Christopher
AU - Mairhofer, Helga
AU - Krebs, Stefan
AU - Fingerle, Volker
AU - Graf, Alexander
AU - Steininger, Philipp
AU - Blum, Helmut
AU - Hornung, Veit
AU - Liebl, Bernhard
AU - Überla, Klaus
AU - Prelog, Martina
AU - Knolle, Percy
AU - Keppler, Oliver T.
AU - Protzer, Ulrike
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.
PY - 2022/3
Y1 - 2022/3
N2 - Infection-neutralizing antibody responses after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection or coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination are an essential component of antiviral immunity. Antibody-mediated protection is challenged by the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VoCs) with immune escape properties, such as omicron (B.1.1.529), which is rapidly spreading worldwide. Here we report neutralizing antibody dynamics in a longitudinal cohort of coronavirus disease 2019 convalescent and infection-naive individuals vaccinated with mRNA BNT162b2 by quantifying SARS-CoV-2 spike protein antibodies and determining their avidity and neutralization capacity in serum. Using live-virus neutralization assays, we show that a superior infection-neutralizing capacity against all VoCs, including omicron, developed after either two vaccinations in convalescents or a third vaccination or breakthrough infection of twice-vaccinated, naive individuals. These three consecutive spike antigen exposures resulted in an increasing neutralization capacity per anti-spike antibody unit and were paralleled by stepwise increases in antibody avidity. We conclude that an infection-plus-vaccination-induced hybrid immunity or a triple immunization can induce high-quality antibodies with superior neutralization capacity against VoCs, including omicron.
AB - Infection-neutralizing antibody responses after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection or coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination are an essential component of antiviral immunity. Antibody-mediated protection is challenged by the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VoCs) with immune escape properties, such as omicron (B.1.1.529), which is rapidly spreading worldwide. Here we report neutralizing antibody dynamics in a longitudinal cohort of coronavirus disease 2019 convalescent and infection-naive individuals vaccinated with mRNA BNT162b2 by quantifying SARS-CoV-2 spike protein antibodies and determining their avidity and neutralization capacity in serum. Using live-virus neutralization assays, we show that a superior infection-neutralizing capacity against all VoCs, including omicron, developed after either two vaccinations in convalescents or a third vaccination or breakthrough infection of twice-vaccinated, naive individuals. These three consecutive spike antigen exposures resulted in an increasing neutralization capacity per anti-spike antibody unit and were paralleled by stepwise increases in antibody avidity. We conclude that an infection-plus-vaccination-induced hybrid immunity or a triple immunization can induce high-quality antibodies with superior neutralization capacity against VoCs, including omicron.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85123860115&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41591-022-01715-4
DO - 10.1038/s41591-022-01715-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 35090165
AN - SCOPUS:85123860115
SN - 1078-8956
VL - 28
SP - 496
EP - 503
JO - Nature Medicine
JF - Nature Medicine
IS - 3
ER -