Fatal COVID-19 outcomes are associated with an antibody response targeting epitopes shared with endemic coronaviruses
Anna L. McNaughton, … , Sunetra Gupta, Craig P. Thompson
Anna L. McNaughton, … , Sunetra Gupta, Craig P. Thompson
Published May 24, 2022
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2022;7(13):e156372. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.156372.
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Research Article Immunology Infectious disease Article has an altmetric score of 264

Fatal COVID-19 outcomes are associated with an antibody response targeting epitopes shared with endemic coronaviruses

Abstract

The role of immune responses to previously seen endemic coronavirus epitopes in severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and disease progression has not yet been determined. Here, we show that a key characteristic of fatal outcomes with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is that the immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is enriched for antibodies directed against epitopes shared with endemic beta-coronaviruses and has a lower proportion of antibodies targeting the more protective variable regions of the spike. The magnitude of antibody responses to the SARS-CoV-2 full-length spike protein, its domains and subunits, and the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid also correlated strongly with responses to the endemic beta-coronavirus spike proteins in individuals admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) with fatal COVID-19 outcomes, but not in individuals with nonfatal outcomes. This correlation was found to be due to the antibody response directed at the S2 subunit of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which has the highest degree of conservation between the beta-coronavirus spike proteins. Intriguingly, antibody responses to the less cross-reactive SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid were not significantly different in individuals who were admitted to an ICU with fatal and nonfatal outcomes, suggesting an antibody profile in individuals with fatal outcomes consistent with an “original antigenic sin” type response.

Authors

Anna L. McNaughton, Robert S. Paton, Matthew Edmans, Jonathan Youngs, Judith Wellens, Prabhjeet Phalora, Alex Fyfe, Sandra Belij-Rammerstorfer, Jai S. Bolton, Jonathan Ball, George W. Carnell, Wanwisa Dejnirattisai, Christina Dold, David W. Eyre, Philip Hopkins, Alison Howarth, Kreepa Kooblall, Hannah Klim, Susannah Leaver, Lian Ni Lee, César López-Camacho, Sheila F. Lumley, Derek C. Macallan, Alexander J. Mentzer, Nicholas M. Provine, Jeremy Ratcliff, Jose Slon-Compos, Donal Skelly, Lucas Stolle, Piyada Supasa, Nigel Temperton, Chris Walker, Beibei Wang, Duncan Wyncoll, Oxford Protective T Cell Immunology for COVID-19 (OPTIC) consortium, Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) consortium, Peter Simmonds, Teresa Lambe, John Kenneth Baillie, Malcolm G. Semple, Peter J.M. Openshaw, International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infection Consortium Coronavirus Clinical Characterisation Consortium (ISARIC4C) investigators, Uri Obolski, Marc Turner, Miles Carroll, Juthathip Mongkolsapaya, Gavin Screaton, Stephen H. Kennedy, Lisa Jarvis, Eleanor Barnes, Susanna Dunachie, José Lourenço, Philippa C. Matthews, Tihana Bicanic, Paul Klenerman, Sunetra Gupta, Craig P. Thompson

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Figure 1

Individuals admitted to ICUs with fatal COVID-19 outcomes have lower responses to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein but not the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid.

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Individuals admitted to ICUs with fatal COVID-19 outcomes have lower res...
Box plots comparing antibody concentrations for (A–D) SARS-CoV-2 spike domains and nucleocapsid, (E) SARS-CoV-1 full-length spike, and (F–I) HCoV full-length spike antigens. For all box plots, plots depict the minimum and maximum values (whiskers), and the shaded box indicates the upper and lower quartiles and the median. Sample groups (background uninfected, infected, asymptomatic, and ICU with fatal and nonfatal outcomes) are given on the x axis. Subgroups are denoted by color. The average response to all SARS-CoV-2 antigens was elevated in individuals admitted to an ICU with COVID-19, and no differences were observed between the infected and asymptomatic groups. Individuals admitted to an ICU with fatal COVID-19 outcomes had a lower response to SARS-CoV-2 RBD (t test: P = 0.01), spike (t test: P = 0.02), and NTD (t test: P = 0.02) than individuals admitted to an ICU with nonfatal COVID-19 outcomes. The data in this figure were generated using the MSD V-PLEX assay. t tests were used to assess significance, and the reported P values were adjusted for multiple comparisons using the Holm-Bonferroni method. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001.