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Malbrn (NatIonal Administration Laboratories and Health Institutes – Carlos G

Malbrn (NatIonal Administration Laboratories and Health Institutes – Carlos G. from SARS coronavirus 2 in place of VSV-G, and coupled with a clonal HEK-293T ACE2 TMPRSS2 cell collection optimized for highly efficient S-mediated contamination, we decided that only 1 1 out of 12 serum samples from a cohort of recipients of the Gamaleya Sputnik V Ad26 / Ad5 vaccine showed effective neutralization (IC90) of rcVSV-CoV2-S: B.1.351 at full serum strength. The same set of sera efficiently neutralized S from B.1.1.7 and showed only moderately reduced activity against S carrying the E484K substitution alone. Taken together, our data suggest that control of some emergent SARS-CoV-2 variants may benefit from updated vaccines. INTRODUCTION. In the 15 months since its emergence in Tilorone dihydrochloride late 20191, SARS-CoV-2 has caused over 131 million confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide, leading to at least 2.85 million deaths2. SARS-CoV-2 Tilorone dihydrochloride is usually closely related to two other zoonotic betacoronaviruses, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV, that also cause life-threatening respiratory infections3. This global health emergency has spurred the development of COVID-19 preventive vaccines at an unprecedented pace. Six are already authorized for human use across the globe4C9. These vaccines focus on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (S), due to its critical roles in cell entry. Indeed, the presence of serum neutralizing antibodies directed at S correlate strongly with protection against COVID-1910,11. Although these six vaccines are efficacious, the recent emergence of Tilorone dihydrochloride novel SARS-CoV-2 variants has reignited concerns that the pandemic may not be so easily brought under control. In December 2020, the United Kingdom reported the sudden emergence of a novel SARS-CoV-2 lineage, termed B.1.1.7 (501Y.V1, VOC 202012/01), which was designated as the first SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern (VOC). The lineage had rapidly increased in prevalence since first being detected in November 202012. Its genome showed an unusually high number of non-synonymous substitutions and deletions, including eight in Tilorone dihydrochloride the S gene, suggesting a substantial degree of host adaptation that may have occurred during prolonged infection of an immunocompromised person13. The B.1.1.7 lineage has now been shown to exhibit enhanced Tilorone dihydrochloride transmissibility14 as well as an increased case fatality rate15,16. Soon afterwards, two additional SARS-CoV-2 VOC, B.1.351 and P.1, were reported from S. Africa and Brazil, respectively, which each showed substantial escape from neutralizing antibodies elicited by first wave pandemic viruses, leading to documented cases of re-infection17C19. The S genes of B.1.351 and P.1 viruses each carry a number of mutations, but include three in the receptor binding domain (RBD) that are particularly notable, the S: N501Y substitution, found in B.1.1.7, alongside polymorphisms at positions 417 and 484, K417N/T and E484K. S: E484K had already been identified in multiple independent laboratories to confer escape from convalescent sera and monoclonal antibodies20C22. As expected, the P.1 and B.1.351 variants escape or resist neutralization by first wave convalescent sera, as well as antibodies elicited by COVID-19 vaccines23C27. Although the P.1 and B.1.351 lineages are dominant in Brazil and S. Africa, unlike B.1.1.7 they have not increased greatly in number in the United States since originally being detected here. In contrast, the E484K polymorphism is recurrently emergent, and is found in a number of other lineages that are increasing in the U.S. and other countries. For example, a B.1.526 sub-lineage carrying E484K in recent weeks has expanded more rapidly than B.1.1.728,29, which may be indicative of the ability of S: E484K variants to penetrate herd immunity. The P.2 lineage, originally detected in Rio de Janeiro, carries only the E484K mutation in the RBD and has spread to other parts of South America, including Argentina30. The six COVID-19 vaccines currently in use around the world employ different strategies, and do not all incorporate the two proline substitutions that lock S into the pre-fusion conformer. Vaccines that do not utilize pre-fusion locked S are expected to produce lower levels of neutralizing antibodies, and hence may be less efficacious against infection, even if they do protect against severe COVID-1931,32. Indeed, a two-dose regimen of the AstraZeneca ChAdOx1 based vaccine, which does not use a locked S, did not protect against mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in S. Africa, where 93% of COVID-19 cases in trial participants were caused by SKP1A the B.1.351 variant33. Like the AstraZeneca ChAdOx1 vaccine, the Sputnik V vaccine (Gam-COVID-Vac) is based on adenovirus vectored expression of a.