Changes in SARS-CoV-2 Spike versus Nucleoprotein Antibody Responses Impact the Estimates of Infections in Population-Based Seroprevalence Studies

• DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01828-20
• Publication Date: 2020-11-03T14:50:07Z
• Authors: Craig Fenwick; Antony Croxatto; Alix T. Coste; Florence Pojer; Cyril André; Céline Pellaton; Alex Farina; Jérémy Campos; David Hacker; Kelvin Lau; Berend-Jan Bosch; Semira Gonseth Nu...; Murielle Bochud; Valerie D’Acremont; Didier Trono; Gilbert Greub; Giuseppe Pantaleo
• Keywords: Male; 0301 basic medicine; Time Factors; Immunology; serology; Antibodies, Viral; Microbiology; Sensitivity and Specificity; 03 medical and health sciences; SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Virology; S protein trimer; Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Proteins; Humans; serological assays; Immunoassay; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; Phosphoproteins; Immunoglobulin A; 3. Good health; sars-cov-2; s protein trimer; Insect Science; Immunoglobulin G; Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus; Pathogenesis and Immunity; Female; Protein Multimerization; Switzerland

In the present study, we have determined SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody responses in sera of acute and postinfection phase subjects. Our results indicate that antibody responses against viral S and N proteins were equally sensitive in the acute phase of infection, but that responses against N appear to wane in the postinfection phase where those against the S protein persist over time. The most sensitive serological assay in both acute and postinfection phases used the native S protein trimer as the binding antigen, which has significantly greater conformational epitopes for antibody binding compared to the S1 monomer protein used in other assays. We believe these results are extremely important in order to generate correct estimates of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the general population. Furthermore, the assessment of antibody responses against the trimeric S protein will be critical to evaluate the durability of the antibody response and for the characterization of a vaccine-induced antibody response.