Antibody landscape against SARS-CoV-2 reveals significant differences between non-structural/accessory and structural proteins
Yang Li, Zhaowei Xu, Qing Lei, Dan‐yun Lai, Hongyan Hou, He‐wei Jiang, Yun-xiao Zheng, Xuening Wang, Jiaoxiang Wu, Ming‐liang Ma, Bo Zhang, Hong Chen, Caizheng Yu, Jun‐biao Xue, Hainan Zhang, Huan Qi, Shujuan Guo, Yandi Zhang, Xiaosong Lin, Zongjie Yao, Huiming Sheng, Ziyong Sun, Feng Wang, Xionglin Fan, Sheng‐ce Tao
Abstract
The immunogenicity of the SARS-CoV-2 proteome is largely unknown, especially for non-structural proteins and accessory proteins. In this study, we collect 2,360 COVID-19 sera and 601 control sera. We analyze these sera on a protein microarray with 20 proteins of SARS-CoV-2, building an antibody response landscape for immunoglobulin (Ig)G and IgM. Non-structural proteins and accessory proteins NSP1, NSP7, NSP8, RdRp, ORF3b, and ORF9b elicit prevalent IgG responses. The IgG patterns and dynamics of non-structural/accessory proteins are different from those of the S and N proteins. The IgG responses against these six proteins are associated with disease severity and clinical outcome, and they decline sharply about 20 days after symptom onset. In non-survivors, a sharp decrease of IgG antibodies against S1 and N proteins before death is observed. The global antibody responses to non-structural/accessory proteins revealed here may facilitate a deeper understanding of SARS-CoV-2 immunology.