Exploring beyond clinical routine SARS-CoV-2 serology using MultiCoV-Ab to evaluate endemic coronavirus cross-reactivity

M Becker, M Strengert, D Junker, PD Kaiser… - Nature …, 2021 - nature.com
M Becker, M Strengert, D Junker, PD Kaiser, T Kerrinnes, B Traenkle, H Dinter, J Häring…
Nature communications, 2021nature.com
The humoral immune response to SARS-CoV-2 is a benchmark for immunity and detailed
analysis is required to understand the manifestation and progression of COVID-19, monitor
seroconversion within the general population, and support vaccine development. The
majority of currently available commercial serological assays only quantify the SARS-CoV-2
antibody response against individual antigens, limiting our understanding of the immune
response. To overcome this, we have developed a multiplex immunoassay (MultiCoV-Ab) …
Abstract
The humoral immune response to SARS-CoV-2 is a benchmark for immunity and detailed analysis is required to understand the manifestation and progression of COVID-19, monitor seroconversion within the general population, and support vaccine development. The majority of currently available commercial serological assays only quantify the SARS-CoV-2 antibody response against individual antigens, limiting our understanding of the immune response. To overcome this, we have developed a multiplex immunoassay (MultiCoV-Ab) including spike and nucleocapsid proteins of SARS-CoV-2 and the endemic human coronaviruses. Compared to three broadly used commercial in vitro diagnostic tests, our MultiCoV-Ab achieves a higher sensitivity and specificity when analyzing a well-characterized sample set of SARS-CoV-2 infected and uninfected individuals. We find a high response against endemic coronaviruses in our sample set, but no consistent cross-reactive IgG response patterns against SARS-CoV-2. Here we show a robust, high-content-enabled, antigen-saving multiplex assay suited to both monitoring vaccination studies and facilitating epidemiologic screenings for humoral immunity towards pandemic and endemic coronaviruses.
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