Open access
Somatic Hypermutations Enhance Neutralization Breadth of IGHV3‐53/3‐66 Public Antibodies Against SARS‐CoV‐2 Variants
Takeo Kuwata
K. Okazaki
Hiroshi Morioka
Yu Kaku
Mikiko Shimizu
Yoshimi Maruyama
Ahmed K. Hamdy
Tateki Suzuki
Takao Hashiguchi
Kei Sato
Shuzo Matsushita
Medicine
TL;DR
This work assessed whether non‐broadly neutralizing IGHV3‐53/3‐66 antibodies could mature into broadly neutralizing antibodies and found some acquire broad neutralizing activity through accumulation of somatic hypermutations.
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) continuously evolves to evade antibodies elicited by prior infection or vaccination. Most IGHV3‐53/3‐66 public antibodies potently neutralize the prototype strain, but show limited activity against recent variants. However, some acquire broad neutralizing activity through accumulation of somatic hypermutations. We assessed whether non‐broadly neutralizing IGHV3‐53/3‐66 antibodies could mature into broadly neutralizing antibodies.