A noncompeting pair of human neutralizing antibodies block COVID-19 virus binding to its receptor ACE2

Abstract

An antibody defense against COVID-19 One of the responses of the immune system to invading viruses is the production of antibodies. Some of these are neutralizing, meaning that they prevent the virus from being infectious, and can thus be used to treat viral diseases. Wu et al. isolated four neutralizing antibodies from a convalescent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patient. Two of the antibodies, B38 and H4, blocked the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the viral spike protein from binding to the cellular receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). The structure of the RBD bound to B38 shows that the B38-binding site overlaps with the binding site for ACE2. Although H4 also blocks RBD binding to ACE2, it binds at a different site, and thus the two antibodies can bind simultaneously. This pair of antibodies could potentially be used together in clinical applications. Science , this issue p. 1274

Keywords

Affiliated Institutions

• National Institutes for Food and Drug Control CN
• Chinese Center For Disease Control and Prevention CN
• Chinese Academy of Sciences CN
• University of Science and Technology of China CN
• Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital CN
• Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology CN
• China Agricultural University CN
• National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention CN
• University of Chinese Academy of Sciences CN
• Institute of Microbiology CN
• Institutes of Science and Development CN
• Capital Medical University CN
• Shanxi Academy of Building Research CN

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