XBB.1.5 monovalent booster improves antibody binding and neutralization against emerging SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants

Jain, S.; Kumar, S.; Lai, L.; Linderman, S.; Malik, A. A.; Ellis, M. L.; Godbole, S.; Solis, D.; Sahoo, M. K.; Bechnak, K.; Paredes, I.; Tanios, R.; Kazzi, B.; Dib, S. M.; Litvack, M. B.; Wimalsena, S. T.; Ciric, C.; Rostad, C.; West, R.; Teng, I.-T.; Wang, D.; Kwong, P. D.; Rouphael, N.; Pinsky, B. A.; Douek, D. C.; Wrammert, J.; Moreno, A.; Suthar, M. S.

doi:10.1101/2024.02.03.578771

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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2024.02.03.578771

XBB.1.5 monovalent booster improves antibody binding and neutralization against emerging SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants

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Abstract

The rapid emergence of divergent SARS-CoV-2 variants has led to an update of the COVID-19 booster vaccine to a monovalent version containing the XBB.1.5 spike. To determine the neutralization breadth following booster immunization, we collected blood samples from 24 individuals pre- and post-XBB.1.5 mRNA booster vaccination ([~]1 month). The XBB.1.5 booster improved both neutralizing activity against the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strain (WA1) and the circulating Omicron variants, including EG.5.1, HK.3, HV.1, XBB.1.5 and JN.1. Relative to the pre-boost titers, the XBB.1.5 monovalent booster induced greater total IgG and IgG subclass binding, particular IgG4, to the XBB.1.5 spike as compared to the WA1 spike. We evaluated antigen-specific memory B cells (MBCs) using either spike or receptor binding domain (RBD) probes and found that the monovalent booster largely increases non-RBD cross-reactive MBCs. These data suggest that the XBB.1.5 monovalent booster induces cross-reactive antibodies that neutralize XBB.1.5 and related Omicron variants.

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Jain, S., Kumar, S., Lai, L., Linderman, S., Malik, A. A., Ellis, M. L., Godbole, S., Solis, D., Sahoo, M. K., Bechnak, K., Paredes, I., Tanios, R., Kazzi, B., Dib, S. M., Litvack, M. B., Wimalsena, S. T., Ciric, C., Rostad, C., West, R., Teng, I.-T., Wang, D., Kwong, P. D., Rouphael, N., Pinsky, B. A., Douek, D. C., Wrammert, J., Moreno, A., Suthar, M. S.. 2024-02-05. XBB.1.5 monovalent booster improves antibody binding and neutralization against emerging SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.02.03.578771

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