Broadening sarbecovirus neutralization with bispecific antibodies combining distinct conserved targets on the receptor binding domain

Monoclonal neutralizing antibodies (mAbs) are considered an important prophylactic against SARS-CoV-2 infection in at-risk populations and a strategy to counteract future sarbecovirus-induced disease. However, most mAbs isolated so far neutralize only a few sarbecovirus strains. Therefore, there is...

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Main Authors: Denise Guerra, Laura Radić, Mitch Brinkkemper, Meliawati Poniman, Lara van der Maas, Jonathan L. Torres, Andrew B. Ward, Kwinten Sliepen, Janke Schinkel, Rogier W. Sanders, Marit J. van Gils, Tim Beaumont
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Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21645515.2024.2388344
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author Denise Guerra
Laura Radić
Mitch Brinkkemper
Meliawati Poniman
Lara van der Maas
Jonathan L. Torres
Andrew B. Ward
Kwinten Sliepen
Janke Schinkel
Rogier W. Sanders
Marit J. van Gils
Tim Beaumont
author_facet Denise Guerra
Laura Radić
Mitch Brinkkemper
Meliawati Poniman
Lara van der Maas
Jonathan L. Torres
Andrew B. Ward
Kwinten Sliepen
Janke Schinkel
Rogier W. Sanders
Marit J. van Gils
Tim Beaumont
author_sort Denise Guerra
collection DOAJ
description Monoclonal neutralizing antibodies (mAbs) are considered an important prophylactic against SARS-CoV-2 infection in at-risk populations and a strategy to counteract future sarbecovirus-induced disease. However, most mAbs isolated so far neutralize only a few sarbecovirus strains. Therefore, there is a growing interest in bispecific antibodies (bsAbs) which can simultaneously target different spike epitopes and thereby increase neutralizing breadth and prevent viral escape. Here, we generate and characterize a panel of 30 novel broadly reactive bsAbs using an efficient controlled Fab-arm exchange protocol. We specifically combine some of the broadest mAbs described so far, which target conserved epitopes on the receptor binding domain (RBD). Several bsAbs show superior cross-binding and neutralization compared to the parental mAbs and cocktails against sarbecoviruses from diverse clades, including recent SARS-CoV-2 variants. BsAbs which include mAb COVA2–02 are among the most potent and broad combinations. As a result, we study the unknown epitope of COVA2–02 and show that this mAb targets a distinct conserved region at the base of the RBD, which could be of interest when designing next-generation bsAb constructs to contribute to a better pandemic preparedness.
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spelling doaj-art-1fbcc6e3d1d94ac096e091f76a23bb0a2025-08-20T03:21:46ZengTaylor & Francis GroupHuman Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics2164-55152164-554X2024-12-0120110.1080/21645515.2024.2388344Broadening sarbecovirus neutralization with bispecific antibodies combining distinct conserved targets on the receptor binding domainDenise Guerra0Laura Radić1Mitch Brinkkemper2Meliawati Poniman3Lara van der Maas4Jonathan L. Torres5Andrew B. Ward6Kwinten Sliepen7Janke Schinkel8Rogier W. Sanders9Marit J. van Gils10Tim Beaumont11Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsDepartment of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsDepartment of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsDepartment of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsDepartment of Structural Biology and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USADepartment of Structural Biology and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USADepartment of Structural Biology and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USADepartment of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsDepartment of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsDepartment of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsDepartment of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsDepartment of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsMonoclonal neutralizing antibodies (mAbs) are considered an important prophylactic against SARS-CoV-2 infection in at-risk populations and a strategy to counteract future sarbecovirus-induced disease. However, most mAbs isolated so far neutralize only a few sarbecovirus strains. Therefore, there is a growing interest in bispecific antibodies (bsAbs) which can simultaneously target different spike epitopes and thereby increase neutralizing breadth and prevent viral escape. Here, we generate and characterize a panel of 30 novel broadly reactive bsAbs using an efficient controlled Fab-arm exchange protocol. We specifically combine some of the broadest mAbs described so far, which target conserved epitopes on the receptor binding domain (RBD). Several bsAbs show superior cross-binding and neutralization compared to the parental mAbs and cocktails against sarbecoviruses from diverse clades, including recent SARS-CoV-2 variants. BsAbs which include mAb COVA2–02 are among the most potent and broad combinations. As a result, we study the unknown epitope of COVA2–02 and show that this mAb targets a distinct conserved region at the base of the RBD, which could be of interest when designing next-generation bsAb constructs to contribute to a better pandemic preparedness.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21645515.2024.2388344SARS-CoV-2variantssarbecovirusesbispecific antibodiescross-reactivitybreadth
spellingShingle Denise Guerra
Laura Radić
Mitch Brinkkemper
Meliawati Poniman
Lara van der Maas
Jonathan L. Torres
Andrew B. Ward
Kwinten Sliepen
Janke Schinkel
Rogier W. Sanders
Marit J. van Gils
Tim Beaumont
Broadening sarbecovirus neutralization with bispecific antibodies combining distinct conserved targets on the receptor binding domain
Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics
SARS-CoV-2
variants
sarbecoviruses
bispecific antibodies
cross-reactivity
breadth
title Broadening sarbecovirus neutralization with bispecific antibodies combining distinct conserved targets on the receptor binding domain
title_full Broadening sarbecovirus neutralization with bispecific antibodies combining distinct conserved targets on the receptor binding domain
title_fullStr Broadening sarbecovirus neutralization with bispecific antibodies combining distinct conserved targets on the receptor binding domain
title_full_unstemmed Broadening sarbecovirus neutralization with bispecific antibodies combining distinct conserved targets on the receptor binding domain
title_short Broadening sarbecovirus neutralization with bispecific antibodies combining distinct conserved targets on the receptor binding domain
title_sort broadening sarbecovirus neutralization with bispecific antibodies combining distinct conserved targets on the receptor binding domain
topic SARS-CoV-2
variants
sarbecoviruses
bispecific antibodies
cross-reactivity
breadth
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21645515.2024.2388344
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