Profiling of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody-associated antigenic peptides signature using proteome microarray.

ABSTRACT

The profile of antibodies against antigenic epitopes of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) during neutralizing antibody (NAb) decay has not been clarified. Using a SARS-CoV-2 proteome microarray that contained viral antigenic peptides, we analyzed the characteristics of the humoral response in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) in a longitudinal study. A total of 89 patients were recruited, and 226 plasma samples were serially collected in 2020. In the antigenic peptide microarray, the level of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against peptides within the S2 subunit (S-82) and a conserved gene region in variants of interest, open reading frame protein 10 (ORF10-3), were closely associated with the presence of SARS-CoV-2 NAbs. In an independent evaluation cohort of 232 plasma samples collected from 116 COVID-19 cases in 2020, S82-IgG titers were higher in NAbs-positive samples (p = 0.002) than in NAbs-negative samples using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We further collected 66 plasma samples from another cohort infected by Omicron BA.1 virus in 2022. Compared with the samples with lower S82-IgG titers, NAb titers were significantly higher in the samples with higher S82-IgG titers (p = 0.04). Our findings provide insights into the understanding of the decay-associated signatures of SARS-CoV-2 NAbs.