A comparison of four serological assays for detecting anti–SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in human serum samples from different populations
Open Access
- 2 September 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science Translational Medicine
- Vol. 12 (559)
- https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abc3103
Abstract
It is of paramount importance to evaluate the prevalence of both asymptomatic and symptomatic cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection and their differing antibody response profiles. Here, we performed a pilot study of four serological assays to assess the amounts of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in serum samples obtained from 491 healthy individuals prior to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, 51 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19, 209 suspected cases of COVID-19 with mild symptoms, and 200 healthy blood donors. We used two ELISA assays that recognized the full-length nucleoprotein (N) or trimeric spike (S) protein ectodomain of SARS-CoV2. In addition, we developed the S-Flow assay that recognized the S protein expressed at the cell surface using flow cytometry, and the Luciferase Immunoprecipitation System (LIPS) assay that recognized diverse SARS-CoV-2 antigens including the S1 domain and the C-terminal domain of N by immunoprecipitation. We obtained similar results with the four serological assays. Differences in sensitivity were attributed to the technique and the antigen used. High anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody titers were associated with neutralization activity, which was assessed using infectious SARS-CoV-2 or lentiviral-S pseudotype virus. In hospitalized patients with COVID-19, seroconversion and virus neutralization occurred between 5 and 14 days after symptom onset, confirming previous studies. Seropositivity was detected in 32% of mildly-symptomatic individuals within 15 days of symptom onset and in 3% of healthy blood donors. The four antibody assays we used enabled a broad evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and antibody profiling in different subpopulations within one region.Funding Information
- Gilead Sciences (HIV cure program)
- Sidaction
- Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de l’Innovation
- European Research Council (RECOVER)
- European Research Council (RECOVER)
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-14-CE14-0029)
- LABEX IBEID (ANR-10-LABX-62-IBEID)
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche (Oh’ticks)
- Institut Pasteur
- CNRS
- Institut Pasteur
- LABEX IBEID (ANR-10-LABX-62-IBEID)
- Institut Pasteur
- Inserm
- Institut Pasteur
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-14-CE14-0015-01)
- LABEX IBEID (ANR-10-LABX-62-IBEID)
- Agence Nationale de Recherches sur le Sida et les Hépatites Virales
- REACTing
- Université PSL
- Santé Publique France
- REACTing
- Labex Milieu Intérieur (ANR-10-LABX-69-01)
- LABEX VRI (ANR- 10-LABX-77)
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