Three exposures to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 by either infection or vaccination elicit superior neutralizing immunity to all variants of concern

Wratil PR, Stern M, Priller A, Willmann A, Almanzar G, Vogel E, Feuerherd M, Cheng CC, Yazici S, Christa C, Jeske S, Lupoli G, Vogt T, Albanese M, Mejías-Pérez E, Bauernfried S, Graf N, Mijocevic H, Vu M, Tinnefeld K, Wettengel J, Hoffmann D, Muenchhoff M, Daechert C, Mairhofer H, Krebs S, Fingerle V, Graf A, Steininger P, Blum H, Hornung V, Liebl B, Überla K, Prelog M, Knolle P, Keppler OT, Protzer U (2022)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2022

Journal

Nature Medicine Nature Publishing Group

DOI: 10.1038/s41591-022-01715-4

Abstract

Infection-neutralizing antibody responses after SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 vaccination are an essential component of antiviral immunity. Antibody-mediated protection is challenged by the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VoCs) with immune escape properties, such as omicron (B.1.1.529) that is rapidly spreading worldwide. Here, we report neutralizing antibody dynamics in a longitudinal cohort of COVID-19 convalescent and infection-naive individuals vaccinated with mRNA BNT162b2 by quantifying anti-SARS-CoV-2-spike antibodies and determining their avidity and neutralization capacity in serum. Using live-virus neutralization assays, we show that a superior infection-neutralizing capacity against all VoCs, including omicron, developed after either two vaccinations in convalescents or after a third vaccination or breakthrough infection of twice-vaccinated, naive individuals. These three consecutive spike antigen exposures resulted in an increasing neutralization capacity per anti-spike antibody unit and were paralleled by stepwise increases in antibody avidity. We conclude that an infection-plus-vaccination-induced hybrid immunity or a triple immunization can induce high-quality antibodies with superior neutralization capacity against VoCs, including omicron.

Authors with CRIS profile

Philipp Steininger Institute of Clinical and Molecular Virology Klaus Überla Lehrstuhl für Klinische und Molekulare Virologie

Involved external institutions

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) DE Germany (DE) Institut für Molekulare Immunologie / Institute of Molecular Immunology (IMI) DE Germany (DE) Technische Universität München (TUM) DE Germany (DE) Universitätsklinikum Würzburg DE Germany (DE) Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (DZIF) DE Germany (DE) Bayerisches Landesamt für Gesundheit und Lebensmittelsicherheit (LGL) DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Wratil, P.R., Stern, M., Priller, A., Willmann, A., Almanzar, G., Vogel, E.,... Protzer, U. (2022). Three exposures to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 by either infection or vaccination elicit superior neutralizing immunity to all variants of concern. Nature Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01715-4

MLA:

Wratil, Paul R., et al. "Three exposures to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 by either infection or vaccination elicit superior neutralizing immunity to all variants of concern." Nature Medicine (2022).

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