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Selective pressures have given rise to a number of SARS-CoV-2 variants during the prolonged course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently evolved variants differ from ancestors in additional glycosylation within the spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD). Details of how the acquisition of glycosylation impacts viral fitness and human adaptation are not clearly understood. Here, we dissected the role of N354-linked glycosylation, acquired by BA.2.86 sub-lineages, as a RBD conformational control element in attenuating viral infectivity. The reduced infectivity is recovered in the presence of heparin sulfate, which targets the ‘N354 pocket’ to ease restrictions of conformational transition resulting in a ‘RBD-up’ state, thereby conferring an adjustable infectivity. Furthermore, N354 glycosylation improved spike cleavage and cell–cell fusion, and in particular escaped one subset of ADCC antibodies. Together with reduced immunogenicity in hybrid immunity background, these indicate a single spike amino acid glycosylation event provides selective advantage in humans through multiple mechanisms.Human coronaviruses (HCoVs) that cause seasonal colds achieve long-term adaptation in the human population through a high “glycan shield”. The recent emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.86 lineage, with additional N354 glycosylation on the S protein, is an important event in the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 into a human seasonal coronavirus. N354 glycosylation makes the virus more susceptible to the upper respiratory tract, but weakens its ability to replicate in the lower respiratory tract, while reducing the immunogenicity of the virus, which is conducive to future reinfection by the virus. These results suggest that the event of increased glycosylation promotes the coexistence of SARS-CoV-2 with humans.

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants and potentially other highly pathogenic sarbecoviruses in the future highlights the need for pan-sarbecovirus vaccines. Here, we discovered a new STING agonist, CF501, and found that CF501-adjuvanted RBD-Fc vaccine (CF501/RBD-Fc) elicited significantly stronger neutralizing antibody (nAb) and T cell responses than Alum- and cGAMP-adjuvanted RBD-Fc in mice. Vaccination of rabbits and rhesus macaques (nonhuman primates, NHPs) with CF501/RBD-Fc elicited exceptionally potent nAb responses against SARS-CoV-2 and its nine variants and 41 S-mutants, SARS-CoV and bat SARSr-CoVs. CF501/RBD-Fc-immunized hACE2-transgenic mice were almost completely protected against SARS-CoV-2 challenge, even 6 months after the initial immunization. NHPs immunized with a single dose of CF501/RBD-Fc produced high titers of nAbs. The immunized macaques also exhibited durable humoral and cellular immune responses and showed remarkably reduced viral load in the upper and lower airways upon SARS-CoV-2 challenge even at 108 days post the final immunization. Thus, CF501/RBD-Fc can be further developed as a novel pan-sarbecovirus vaccine to combat current and future outbreaks of sarbecovirus diseases.

The SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529 (Omicron) variant contains 15 mutations of the receptor-binding domain (RBD). How Omicron evades RBD-targeted neutralizing antibodies requires immediate investigation. Here we use high-throughput yeast display screening1,2to determine the profiles of RBD escaping mutations for 247 human anti-RBD neutralizing antibodies and show that the neutralizing antibodies can be classified by unsupervised clustering into six epitope groups (A–F)—a grouping that is highly concordant with knowledge-based structural classifications3–5. Various single mutations of Omicron can impair neutralizing antibodies of different epitope groups. Specifically, neutralizing antibodies in groups A–D, the epitopes of which overlap with the ACE2-binding motif, are largely escaped by K417N, G446S, E484A and Q493R. Antibodies in group E (for example, S309)6and group F (for example, CR3022)7, which often exhibit broad sarbecovirus neutralizing activity, are less affected by Omicron, but a subset of neutralizing antibodies are still escaped by G339D, N440K and S371L. Furthermore, Omicron pseudovirus neutralization showed that neutralizing antibodies that sustained single mutations could also be escaped, owing to multiple synergetic mutations on their epitopes. In total, over 85% of the tested neutralizing antibodies were escaped by Omicron. With regard to neutralizing-antibody-based drugs, the neutralization potency of LY-CoV016, LY-CoV555, REGN10933, REGN10987, AZD1061, AZD8895 and BRII-196 was greatly undermined by Omicron, whereas VIR-7831 and DXP-604 still functioned at a reduced efficacy. Together, our data suggest that infection with Omicron would result in considerable humoral immune evasion, and that neutralizing antibodies targeting the sarbecovirus conserved region will remain most effective. Our results inform the development of antibody-based drugs and vaccines against Omicron and future variants.

Omicron (B.1.1.529), the most heavily mutated SARS-CoV-2 variant so far, is highly resistant to neutralizing antibodies, raising concerns about the effectiveness of antibody therapies and vaccines1,2. Here we examined whether sera from individuals who received two or three doses of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine could neutralize authentic Omicron. The seroconversion rates of neutralizing antibodies were 3.3% (2 out of 60) and 95% (57 out of 60) for individuals who had received 2 and 3 doses of vaccine, respectively. For recipients of three vaccine doses, the geometric mean neutralization antibody titre for Omicron was 16.5-fold lower than for the ancestral virus (254). We isolated 323 human monoclonal antibodies derived from memory B cells in triple vaccinees, half of which recognized the receptor-binding domain, and showed that a subset (24 out of 163) potently neutralized all SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, including Omicron. Therapeutic treatments with representative broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies were highly protective against infection of mice with SARS-CoV-2 Beta (B.1.351) and Omicron. Atomic structures of the Omicron spike protein in complex with three classes of antibodies that were active against all five variants of concern defined the binding and neutralizing determinants and revealed a key antibody escape site, G446S, that confers greater resistance to a class of antibodies that bind on the right shoulder of the receptor-binding domain by altering local conformation at the binding interface. Our results rationalize the use of three-dose immunization regimens and suggest that the fundamental epitopes revealed by these broadly ultrapotent antibodies are rational targets for a universal sarbecovirus vaccine.

SARS-CoV-2 variants could induce immune escape by mutations on the receptor-binding domain (RBD) and N-terminal domain (NTD). Here we report the humoral immune response to circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants, such as 501Y.V2 (B.1.351), of the plasma and neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) elicited by CoronaVac (inactivated vaccine), ZF2001 (RBD-subunit vaccine) and natural infection. Among 86 potent NAbs identified by high-throughput single-cell VDJ sequencing of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from vaccinees and convalescents, near half anti-RBD NAbs showed major neutralization reductions against the K417N/E484K/N501Y mutation combination, with E484K being the dominant cause. VH3-53/VH3-66 recurrent antibodies respond differently to RBD variants, and K417N compromises the majority of neutralizing activity through reduced polar contacts with complementarity determining regions. In contrast, the 242–244 deletion (242–244Δ) would abolish most neutralization activity of anti-NTD NAbs by interrupting the conformation of NTD antigenic supersite, indicating a much less diversity of anti-NTD NAbs than anti-RBD NAbs. Plasma of convalescents and CoronaVac vaccinees displayed comparable neutralization reductions against pseudo- and authentic 501Y.V2 variants, mainly caused by E484K/N501Y and 242–244Δ, with the effects being additive. Importantly, RBD-subunit vaccinees exhibit markedly higher tolerance to 501Y.V2 than convalescents, since the elicited anti-RBD NAbs display a high diversity and are unaffected by NTD mutations. Moreover, an extended gap between the third and second doses of ZF2001 leads to better neutralizing activity and tolerance to 501Y.V2 than the standard three-dose administration. Together, these results suggest that the deployment of RBD-vaccines, through a third-dose boost, may be ideal for combating SARS-CoV-2 variants when necessary, especially for those carrying mutations that disrupt the NTD supersite.