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SARS-CoV-2 evolution during treatment of chronic infection

  • Royal Papworth Hospital ICU
  • , Addenbrooke’s Hospital ICU
  • , Cambridge & Peterborough Foundation Trust
  • , ANPC & Centre for Molecular Medicine & Innovative Therapeutics
  • , NIHR BioResource
  • , The COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium
  • , The CITIID-NIHR BioResource COVID-19 Collaboration
  • , Principal investigators
  • , CRF & volunteer research nurses
  • , Sample logistics
  • , Sample processing & data acquisition
  • , Clinical data collection
  • Department of Medicine
  • University College London
  • Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology & Infectious Disease (CITIID)
  • Department of Medicine
  • Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • University of Cambridge
  • University of Oxford
  • Medway School of Pharmacy
  • Wellcome Sanger Centre
  • University of Basel
  • Botnar Research Centre for Child Health
  • University of Cambridge
  • Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Heart and Lung Research Institute
  • Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • The Rosie Maternity Hospital
  • Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute
  • Department of Oncology
  • University of Colorado School of Medicine
  • Fulbourn Hospital
  • Murdoch University
  • University of Portsmouth
  • University of Birmingham
  • Cardiff University School of Medicine
  • Public Health Wales
  • Nuffield Department of Medicine
  • King's College London
  • Wellcome Sanger Institute
  • University of Brighton
  • Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
  • University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
  • University of Southampton
  • St Thomas’ Hospital and Kings College London
  • UK Health Security Agency
  • University of Exeter
  • Belfast Health & Social Care Trust
  • Queen's University Belfast
  • University of Nottingham
  • East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust
  • University of Kent
  • Northumbria University
  • MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research
  • University of Sheffield
  • Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust
  • NHS Lothian
  • EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh
  • Quadram Institute
  • University of East Anglia
  • Public Health Scotland
  • Heartlands Hospital
  • Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust
  • University of Warwick
  • University of Liverpool
  • Imperial College London
  • Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
  • Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board
  • Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust
  • Cardiff & Vale University Health Board
  • Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Wye valley NHS Trust
  • Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust
  • Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust
  • Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust
  • University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
  • Kettering General Hospital
  • University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
  • Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
  • South West London Pathology
  • Royal Free NHS Trust
  • South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
  • North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust
  • County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
  • Queens Medical Centre
  • Northern Lincolnshire & Goole NHS Foundation Trust
  • Basingstoke Hospital
  • University of Surrey
  • Swansea University
  • Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine
  • MRC Biostatistics Unit
  • Liverpool Clinical Laboratories
  • Health Data Research UK
  • Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Public Health
  • London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
  • NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
  • Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
  • Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
  • Health Services Laboratories
  • Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust
  • Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust
  • Norfolk County Council
  • East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
  • The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust
  • Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • University of Glasgow
  • Newcastle University
  • Medical Research Council
  • University of Amsterdam/NIKHEF
  • NIHR Cambridge Bioresource
  • Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
  • Africa Health Research Institute

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

765 Scopus citations

Abstract

The spike protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is critical for virus infection through the engagement of the human ACE2 protein1 and is a major antibody target. Here we show that chronic infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to viral evolution and reduced sensitivity to neutralizing antibodies in an immunosuppressed individual treated with convalescent plasma, by generating whole-genome ultra-deep sequences for 23 time points that span 101 days and using in vitro techniques to characterize the mutations revealed by sequencing. There was little change in the overall structure of the viral population after two courses of remdesivir during the first 57 days. However, after convalescent plasma therapy, we observed large, dynamic shifts in the viral population, with the emergence of a dominant viral strain that contained a substitution (D796H) in the S2 subunit and a deletion (ΔH69/ΔV70) in the S1 N-terminal domain of the spike protein. As passively transferred serum antibodies diminished, viruses with the escape genotype were reduced in frequency, before returning during a final, unsuccessful course of convalescent plasma treatment. In vitro, the spike double mutant bearing both ΔH69/ΔV70 and D796H conferred modestly decreased sensitivity to convalescent plasma, while maintaining infectivity levels that were similar to the wild-type virus.The spike substitution mutant D796H appeared to be the main contributor to the decreased susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies, but this mutation resulted in an infectivity defect. The spike deletion mutant ΔH69/ΔV70 had a twofold higher level of infectivity than wild-type SARS-CoV-2, possibly compensating for the reduced infectivity of the D796H mutation. These data reveal strong selection on SARS-CoV-2 during convalescent plasma therapy, which is associated with the emergence of viral variants that show evidence of reduced susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies in immunosuppressed individuals.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)277-282
Number of pages6
JournalNature
Volume592
Issue number7853
DOIs
StatePublished - 8 Apr 2021
Externally publishedYes

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