Cross-reactive immunity against SARS-CoV-2 N protein in Central and West Africa precedes the COVID-19 pandemic
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Early predictions forecasted large numbers of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) cases and associated deaths in Africa. To date, Africa has been relatively spared. Various hypotheses were postulated to explain the lower than anticipated impact on public health in Africa. However, the contribution of pre-existing immunity is yet to be investigated. In this study, the presence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins in pre-pandemic samples from Africa, Europe, South and North America was examined by ELISA. The protective efficacy of N specific antibodies isolated from Central African donors was tested by in vitro neutralization and in a mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 S and N proteins were rare in all populations except in Gabon and Senegal where N specific antibodies were prevalent. However, these antibodies failed to neutralize the virus either in vitro or in vivo. Overall, this study indicates that cross-reactive immunity against SARS-CoV-2 N protein was present in Africa prior to the pandemic. However, this pre-existing humoral immunity does not impact viral fitness in rodents suggesting that other human immune defense mechanisms could be involved. In Africa, seroprevalence studies using the N protein are over-estimating SARS-CoV-2 circulation.
Originalsprog | Engelsk |
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Artikelnummer | 12962 |
Tidsskrift | Scientific Reports |
Vol/bind | 12 |
ISSN | 2045-2322 |
DOI | |
Status | Udgivet - 2022 |
Bibliografisk note
Funding Information:
GK and HF-B hold funds from the International Development Research Center (grant 109075-001) and the Canadian Department of Global Affair (grant BIO-2019-005). MB received financial support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (grant 170629). Convalescent serum from COVID-19 cases were collected with support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (grant 439999).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
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