Plasma Neutralization of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant
Fabian Schmidt, Frauke Muecksch, Yiska Weisblum, Justin Da Silva, Eva Bednarski, Alice Cho, Zijun Wang, Christian Gaebler, Marina Caskey, Michel C. Nussenzweig, Theodora Hatziioannou, Paul D. Bieniasz
Abstract
To The Editor: The newly emerged B.1.1.159 (omicron) variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) 1 has a large number of changes -32 -in its spike protein relative to that of the original virus (Wuhan-hu-1), particularly in the receptor-binding domain and the N-terminal domain, the primary targets of neutralizing antibodies. Previously, we showed that approximately 20 changes introduced into a synthetic polymutant spike protein (PMS20) are sufficient for substantial evasion of the polyclonal neutralizing antibodies elicited in the majority of persons who have recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) or have received two doses of an mRNA vaccine. 2 Of note, several changes in the PMS20 spike protein are the same as or similar to changes in the omicron variant (Fig.