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Special Issue "The Role of Antibodies in SARS-CoV-2 Infection"

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A special issue of Antibodies (ISSN 2073-4468). This special issue belongs to the section "Humoral Immunity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 April 2023) | Viewed by 10343

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Prof. Dr. Kai Schulze-Forster

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Guest Editor

1. Department of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau (TH Wildau), Wildau, Germany
2. CellTrend Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH), Luckenwalde, Germany
Interests: immunoassays; GPCR autoantibodies; human diagnostics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

During the last two years of the coronavirus pandemic, we have learned a great deal about the role of antibodies in viral infections, and specifically in coronavirus infections. Antibodies are used for diagnostic purposes, but also for therapy. For the first time, an RNA vaccine has been widely used in parallel with other more classic vaccination strategies. Some of the observations (e.g., antibody titer curves) were unexpected, and there are more open questions than answers. The genetic drift and virus variants are especially challenging. Are patient antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 only binders, or can they neutralize the virus? Are humans with high antibody titers better protected against infection or severe COVID-19?

A huge number of commercial assays are available to detect SARS-CoV-2 antigens and antibodies. Self-testing is very popular, and antibodies are used for capture and labelling in lateral-flow assays.

Furthermore, not only antibodies directed against SARS-CoV-2 are important. Increasing evidence has been collected about the important role of (auto)antibodies against G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in different human diseases. GPCR autoantibodies correlate with some long COVID symptoms such as fatigue, and are a target for therapeutic intervention.

Prof. Dr. Kai Schulze-Forster
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Antibodies is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

SARS-CoV-2 antibodies
SARS-CoV-2 vaccines
G protein-coupled receptor autoantibodies
immunoassay
long COVID
virus-like particles

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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Open AccessArticle

Serological Response to SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine in Hemodialyzed Patients and the Association with Later COVID-19 Positivity

Antibodies 2023, 12(2), 37; https://doi.org/10.3390/antib12020037 - 24 May 2023

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Abstract

Background: The effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine may differ in hemodialysis patients. The aim of this prospective multicenter study was to determine the degree of serological response to the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in the population of dialysis patients and its association with later SARS-CoV-2 infections. Methods: A blood sample was taken for the determination of COVID-19 serological status (IgG antibodies) in 706 dialysis patients 16 weeks after vaccination with the second dose (Pfizer-BioNTech). Results: Only 314 (44.5%) hemodialyzed patients had a satisfactory response to the COVID-19 vaccine. Eighty-two patients (11.6%) had a borderline response, while 310 patients (43.9%) had an unsatisfactory (negative) post-vaccinal antibody titer. A longer dialysis vintage had an increased odds ratio (OR) of 1.01 for the occurrence of COVID-19 positivity after vaccination. In the group of subsequently positive patients, 28 patients (13.6%) died from complications of COVID-19. We have found differences in mean survival time between patients with and without appropriate responses to vaccination in favor of patients with a satisfactory serological response. Conclusions: The results showed that the dialysis population will not have the same serological response to the vaccine as the general population. The majority of dialysis patients did not develop a severe clinical picture or die at the time of positivity for COVID-19. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Antibodies in SARS-CoV-2 Infection)

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Open AccessArticle

Pilot Study Results on Antibodies to the S- and N-Proteins of SARS-CoV-2 in Paired Sera from COVID-19 Patients with Varying Severity

and

Antibodies 2023, 12(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/antib12010019 - 27 Feb 2023

Viewed by 1410

Abstract

In this retrospective cohort study, we investigated the formation of individual classes of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in archived serial sera from hospitalized patients with the medium–severe (n = 17) and severe COVID-19 (n = 11). The serum/plasma samples were studied for the presence of IgG, IgM and IgA antibodies to the recombinant S- and N-proteins of SARS-CoV-2. By the 7th day of hospitalization, an IgG increase was observed in patients both with a positive PCR test and without PCR confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Significant increases in the anti-spike IgG levels were noted only in moderate COVID-19. The four-fold increase of IgM to N-protein was obtained more often in the groups with mild and moderate infections. The IgA levels decreased during the infection to both the S- and N-proteins, and the most pronounced decrease was in the severe COVID-19 patients. The serum IgG to S-protein one week after hospitalization demonstrated a high-power relationship (r_s = 0.75) with the level of RBD antibodies. There was a medium strength relationship between the levels of CRP and IgG (r_s = 0.43). Thus, in patients with acute COVID-19, an increase in antibodies can develop as early as 1 week of hospital stay. The SARS-CoV-2 antibody conversions may confirm SARS-CoV-2 infection in PCR-negative patients. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Antibodies in SARS-CoV-2 Infection)

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Open AccessArticle

SARS-CoV-2 Virus-like Particles (VLPs) Specifically Detect Humoral Immune Reactions in an ELISA-Based Platform

and

Antibodies 2022, 11(4), 76; https://doi.org/10.3390/antib11040076 - 12 Dec 2022

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Abstract

A key in controlling the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is the assessment of the immune status of the population. We explored the utility of SARS-CoV-2 virus-like particles (VLPs) as antigens to detect specific humoral immune reactions in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). For this purpose, SARS-CoV-2 VLPs were produced from an engineered cell line and characterized by Western blot, ELISA, and nanoparticle tracking analysis. Subsequently, we collected 42 serum samples from before the pandemic (2014), 89 samples from healthy subjects, and 38 samples from vaccinated subjects. Seventeen samples were collected less than three weeks after infection, and forty-four samples more than three weeks after infection. All serum samples were characterized for their reactivity with VLPs and the SARS-CoV-2 N- and S-protein. Finally, we compared the performance of the VLP-based ELISA with a certified in vitro diagnostic device (IVD). In the applied set of samples, we determined a sensitivity of 95.5% and a specificity of 100% for the certified IVD. There were seven samples with an uncertain outcome. Our VLP-ELISA demonstrated a superior performance, with a sensitivity of 97.5%, a specificity of 100%, and only three uncertain outcomes. This result warrants further research to develop a certified IVD based on SARS-CoV-2 VLPs as an antigen. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Antibodies in SARS-CoV-2 Infection)

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Open AccessArticle

Neutralizing and Total/IgG Spike Antibody Responses Following Homologous CoronaVac vs. BNT162b2 Vaccination Up to 90 Days Post-Booster

and

Antibodies 2022, 11(4), 70; https://doi.org/10.3390/antib11040070 - 08 Nov 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1380

Abstract

Introduction: We documented the total spike antibody (S-Ab), IgG S-Ab and neutralizing antibody (N-Ab) responses of BNT162b2/CoronaVac vaccinees up to 90 days post-booster dose. Methods: We included 32 homologous regimen CoronaVac vaccinees and 136 BNT162b2 mRNA vaccinees. We tested their total S-Ab (Roche), IgG (Abbott) and N-Ab (Snibe) levels at set time points from January 2021 to April 2022. All subjects were deemed to be COVID-19-naïve either via clinical history (CoronaVac vaccinees) or nucleocapsid antibody testing (BNT162b2 vaccinees). Results: All antibodies peaked 20–30 days post-inoculation. In BNT162b2 vaccinees, all post-booster antibodies were significantly higher than second-dose peaks. In CoronaVac vaccinees, IgG showed no significant differences between peak third-/second-dose titers (difference of 56.0 BAU/mL, 95% CI of −17.1 to 129, p = 0.0894). The post-vaccination titers of all antibodies in BNT162b2 vaccinees were significantly higher than those in CoronaVac vaccinees at all time points. Post-booster, all antibodies declined in 90 days; the final total/IgG/N-Ab titers were 7536 BAU/mL, 1276 BAU/mL and 12.5 μg/mL in BNT162b2 vaccinees and 646 BAU/mL, 62.4 BAU/mL and 0.44 μg/mL in CoronaVac vaccinees. Conclusion: The mRNA vaccine generated more robust total S-Ab, IgG and N-Ab responses after the second and third vaccinations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Antibodies in SARS-CoV-2 Infection)

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Open AccessArticle

Shared 6mer Peptides of Human and Omicron (21K and 21L) at SARS-CoV-2 Mutation Sites

Yekbun Adiguzel

and

Yehuda Shoenfeld

Antibodies 2022, 11(4), 68; https://doi.org/10.3390/antib11040068 - 25 Oct 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1413

Abstract

We investigated the short sequences involving Omicron 21K and Omicron 21L variants to reveal any possible molecular mimicry-associated autoimmunity risks and changes in those. We first identified common 6mers of the viral and human protein sequences present for both the mutant (Omicron) and nonmutant (SARS-CoV-2) versions of the same viral sequence and then predicted the binding affinities of those sequences to the HLA supertype representatives. We evaluated change in the potential autoimmunity risk, through comparative assessment of the nonmutant and mutant viral sequences and their similar human peptides with common 6mers and affinities to the same HLA allele. This change is the lost and the new, or de novo, autoimmunity risk, associated with the mutations in the Omicron 21K and Omicron 21L variants. Accordingly, e.g., the affinity of virus-similar sequences of the Ig heavy chain junction regions shifted from the HLA-B*15:01 to the HLA-A*01:01 allele at the mutant sequences. Additionally, peptides of different human proteins sharing 6mers with SARS-CoV-2 proteins at the mutation sites of interest and with affinities to the HLA-B*07:02 allele, such as the respective SARS-CoV-2 sequences, were lost. Among all, any possible molecular mimicry-associated novel risk appeared to be prominent in HLA-A*24:02 and HLA-B*27:05 serotypes upon infection with Omicron 21L. Associated disease, pathway, and tissue expression data supported possible new risks for the HLA-B*27:05 and HLA-A*01:01 serotypes, while the risks for the HLA-B*07:02 serotypes could have been lost or diminished, and those for the HLA-A*03:01 serotypes could have been retained, for the individuals infected with Omicron variants under study. These are likely to affect the complications related to cross-reactions influencing the relevant HLA serotypes upon infection with Omicron 21K and Omicron 21L. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Antibodies in SARS-CoV-2 Infection)

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Review

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Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

A Review of the Currently Available Antibody Therapy for the Treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Kristin Widyasari

and

Jinnam Kim

Antibodies 2023, 12(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/antib12010005 - 11 Jan 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2379

Abstract

Monoclonal antibodies are a promising treatment for COVID-19. However, the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants raised concerns about these therapies’ efficacy and long-term viability. Studies reported several antibodies, that received authorization for COVID-19 treatment, are not effective against new variants or subvariants of SARS-CoV-2, hence their distribution has to be paused. Here, the authors reviewed the status of the currently available monoclonal antibodies for COVID-19 treatment, their potential as a therapeutic agent, and the challenges ahead. To address these issues, the authors presented general information on SARS-CoV-2 and how monoclonal antibodies work against SARS-CoV-2. The authors then focus on the antibodies that have been deployed for COVID-19 treatment and their current status, as well as the evidence supporting their potential as an early intervention against COVID-19. Lastly, the authors discussed some leading obstacles that hinder the development and administration of monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of COVID-19. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Antibodies in SARS-CoV-2 Infection)

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