Plant-produced SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) variants showed differential binding efficiency with anti-spike specific monoclonal antibodies

PLoS One. 2021 Aug 11;16(8):e0253574. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253574. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic which is characterized by respiratory illness and severe pneumonia, and currently accounts for > 2.5 million deaths worldwide. Recently, diverse mutations in the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 were reported in United Kingdom (Alpha) and South Africa (Beta) strains which raise concerns over the potential increase in binding affinity towards the host cell receptor and diminished host neutralization capabilities. In order to study the effect of mutation in the binding efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) with anti-SARS-CoV/CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), we have produced SARS-CoV-2 RBD and two variants SARS-CoV-2 RBD (Alpha RBD and Beta RBD) in Nicotiana benthamiana by transient expression. Plant-produced SARS-CoV-2 RBD-Fc, Alpha RBD-Fc and Beta RBD-Fc exhibited specific binding to human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor determined by ELISA. Intriguingly, the binding of plant-produced SARS-CoV-2 RBD proteins to plant-produced mAbs CR3022, B38, and H4 was found to be different depending on the variant mutation. In contrary to the plant-produced SARS-CoV-2 RBD-Fc and Alpha RBD-Fc, Beta RBD-Fc variant showed weak binding affinity towards the mAbs. The result suggested that the Beta RBD variant might have acquired partial resistance to neutralizing antibodies compared to other variants. However, further studies with sera from convalescent or vaccinated individuals are required to confirm this finding.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 / metabolism
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / genetics
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / immunology
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / metabolism*
  • Antigen-Antibody Reactions
  • COVID-19 / pathology
  • COVID-19 / virology
  • Humans
  • Nicotiana / metabolism*
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Domains / immunology
  • Recombinant Proteins / genetics
  • SARS-CoV-2 / isolation & purification
  • SARS-CoV-2 / metabolism*
  • Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus / chemistry
  • Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus / genetics
  • Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus / immunology
  • Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus / metabolism*

Substances

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
  • spike protein, SARS-CoV-2
  • ACE2 protein, human
  • Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2

Grants and funding

This study has received funding from National Research Council of Thailand and commercial source Baiya Phytopharm Co., Ltd. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.