Continued evasion of neutralizing antibody response by Omicron XBB.1.16

Julia N Faraone; Panke Qu; Yi-Min Zheng; Claire Carlin; Daniel Jones; Ashish R Panchal; Linda J Saif; Eugene M Oltz; Richard J Gumina; Shan-Lu Liu

doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113193

Continued evasion of neutralizing antibody response by Omicron XBB.1.16

Cell Rep. 2023 Oct 31;42(10):113193. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113193. Epub 2023 Sep 30.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Center for Retrovirus Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
² Center for Retrovirus Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
³ Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
⁴ Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA.
⁵ Department of Emergency Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA.
⁶ Center for Food Animal Health, Animal Sciences Department, OARDC, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH 44691, USA; Veterinary Preventive Medicine Department, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH 44691, USA; Viruses and Emerging Pathogens Program, Infectious Diseases Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
⁷ Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
⁸ Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
⁹ Center for Retrovirus Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Viruses and Emerging Pathogens Program, Infectious Diseases Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. Electronic address: liu.6244@osu.edu.

Abstract

The evolution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to challenge the efficacy of vaccination efforts against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The Omicron XBB lineage of SARS-CoV-2 has presented dramatic evasion of neutralizing antibodies stimulated by mRNA vaccination and COVID-19 convalescence. XBB.1.16, characterized by two mutations relative to the dominating variant XBB.1.5, i.e., E180V and K478R, has been on the rise globally. In this study, we compare the immune escape of XBB.1.16 with XBB.1.5, alongside ancestral variants D614G, BA.2, and BA.4/5. We demonstrate that XBB.1.16 is strongly immune evasive, with extent comparable to XBB.1.5 in bivalent-vaccinated healthcare worker sera, 3-dose-vaccinated healthcare worker sera, and BA.4/5-wave convalescent sera. Interestingly, the XBB.1.16 spike is less fusogenic than that of XBB.1.5, and this phenotype requires both E180V and K478R mutations to manifest. Overall, our findings emphasize the importance of the continued surveillance of variants and the need for updated mRNA vaccine formulations.

Keywords: CP: Immunology; CP: Microbiology|; Omicron; XBB.1.16; fusogenicity; immune evasion; neutralizing antibody.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Antibodies, Neutralizing*
Antibodies, Viral
Antibody Formation
COVID-19*
Convalescence
Humans
Immune Evasion
SARS-CoV-2

Substances

Antibodies, Neutralizing
Antibodies, Viral

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding