A surrogate cell-based SARS-CoV-2 spike blocking assay

Schuh W, Baus L, Steinmetz T, Schulz S, Weckwerth L, Roth E, Hauke M, Krause S, Morhart P, Rauh M, Hoffmann M, Vesper N, Reth M, Schneider H, Jäck HM, Mielenz D (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

European Journal of Immunology Wiley-VCH Verlag

DOI: 10.1002/eji.202149302

Abstract

To monitor infection by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and successful vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the kinetics of neutralizing or blocking anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody titers need to be assessed. Here, we report the development of a quick and inexpensive surrogate SARS-CoV-2 blocking assay (SUBA) using immobilized recombinant human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) and human cells expressing the native form of surface SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Spike protein-expressing cells bound to hACE2 in the absence or presence of blocking antibodies were quantified by measuring the optical density of cell-associated crystal violet in a spectrophotometer. The advantages are that SUBA is a fast and inexpensive assay, which does not require biosafety level 2- or 3-approved laboratories. Most importantly, SUBA detects blocking antibodies against the native trimeric cell-bound SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and can be rapidly adjusted to quickly pre-screen already approved therapeutic antibodies or sera from vaccinated individuals for their ACE2 blocking activities against any emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Authors with CRIS profile

Wolfgang Schuh Department of Molecular Immunology Tobit Steinmetz Professur für Immunologie Sebastian Schulz Professur für Immunologie Leonie Weckwerth Medizinische Fakultät Stefan Krause Department of Medicine 5 – Haematology and Oncology Manfred Rauh Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine Holm Schneider Professur für Kinderheilkunde/Experimentelle Perinatalmedizin Hans-Martin Jäck Department of Molecular Immunology Dirk Mielenz Lehrstuhl für Innere Medizin III

Involved external institutions

Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg DE Germany (DE) Deutsches Primatenzentrum (DPZ), Leibniz-Institut für Primatenforschung DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Schuh, W., Baus, L., Steinmetz, T., Schulz, S., Weckwerth, L., Roth, E.,... Mielenz, D. (2021). A surrogate cell-based SARS-CoV-2 spike blocking assay. European Journal of Immunology. https://doi.org/10.1002/eji.202149302

MLA:

Schuh, Wolfgang, et al. "A surrogate cell-based SARS-CoV-2 spike blocking assay." European Journal of Immunology (2021).

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