Citation
- Authors: He WT. et al.
- Year: 2022
- Journal: Nat Immunol 23 960-970
- Applications: in vitro / DNA / FectoPRO
- Cell type: Expi293F
Description: Human embryonic kidney Fibroblast
Known as: Expi 293-F, Expi, HEK-293 Expi
Method
To express mAbs, the HC and LC gene segments that were cloned into corresponding expression vectors were transfected into Expi293 cells (Thermo Fisher Scientific) (2–3 million cells ml−1) using the FectoPRO reagent (catalog no. 116-040; Polyplus) for a final expression volume of 2, 4 or 50 ml. After approximately 24 h, sodium valproic acid and glucose were added to the cells at a final concentration of 300 mM each. Cells were allowed to incubate for an additional 4 d to allow for mAb expression.
Abstract
The emergence of current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants of concern (VOCs) and potential future spillovers of SARS-like coronaviruses into humans pose a major threat to human health and the global economy. Development of broadly effective coronavirus vaccines that can mitigate these threats is needed. Here, we utilized a targeted donor selection strategy to isolate a large panel of human broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) to sarbecoviruses. Many of these bnAbs are remarkably effective in neutralizing a diversity of sarbecoviruses and against most SARS-CoV-2 VOCs, including the Omicron variant. Neutralization breadth is achieved by bnAb binding to epitopes on a relatively conserved face of the receptor-binding domain (RBD). Consistent with targeting of conserved sites, select RBD bnAbs exhibited protective efficacy against diverse SARS-like coronaviruses in a prophylaxis challenge model in vivo. These bnAbs provide new opportunities and choices for next-generation antibody prophylactic and therapeutic applications and provide a molecular basis for effective design of pan-sarbecovirus vaccines.