Abstract
Science Advances 2022, 8,
Structural mapping of antibody landscapes to human betacoronavirus spike proteins
Bangaru S, Antanasijevic A, Kose N, Sewall LM, Jackson AM, Suryadevara N, Zhan XY, Torres JL, Copps J, de la Peña AT, Crowe JE, Ward AB
Preexisting immunity against seasonal coronaviruses (CoVs) represents an important variable in predicting anti-body responses and disease severity to severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. We used electron microscopy-based polyclonal epitope mapping (EMPEM) to characterize the antibody specificities against beta-CoV spike proteins in prepandemic (PP) sera or SARS-CoV-2 convalescent (SC) sera. We observed that most PP sera had antibodies specific to seasonal human CoVs (HCoVs) OC43 and HKU1 spike proteins while the SC sera showed reactivity across all human beta-CoVs. Detailed molecular mapping of spike-antibody complexes revealed epitopes that were differentially targeted by preexisting antibodies and SC serum antibodies. Our studies provide an antigenic landscape to beta-HCoV spikes in the general population serving as a basis for cross-reactive epitope analyses in SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals.