Antibody resistance of coronavirus variants B.1.351 (SA) and B.1.1.7 (UK)

Africa, America, B.1.1.7, B.1.351, Brazil, Coronavirus, E484K, Europe, Health, Infection, K417N, Mutation, Reinfection, Science, South Africa, Testing, Transmission, Treatment, UK, Vaccine, Variants

“Findings on B.1.351 [South Africa variant] are more worrisome in that this variant is not only refractory to neutralization by most NTD mAbs but also by multiple individual mAbs to the receptor-binding motif on RBD, largely owing to an E484K mutation. Moreover, B.1.351 is markedly more resistant to neutralization by convalescent plasma (9.4 fold) and vaccinee sera (10.3-12.4 fold). B.1.351 and emergent variants13,14 with similar spike mutations present new challenges for mAb therapy and threaten the protective efficacy of current vaccines.

Full Paper on Nature Magazine

 

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** This post was originally published on March 10, 2021 **