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The haemagglutination test (HAT)-field protocol described here is an optimization of the recently published HAT, for the detection of antibodies directed against the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-Cov-2 virus. HAT and HAT-field are both based on haemagglutination triggered by a single reagent, the IH4-RBD recombinant protein. A sample of IH4-RBD sufficient for several thousand tests or a plasmid encoding IH4-RBD can be obtained from the authors of our first paper. Using titration of IH4-RBD, HAT-field now allows a quantitative assessment of antibody levels in a single step, using a few microliters of whole blood, such as can be obtained by finger prick, and requires only very simple disposable equipment. Because it is based on a single soluble reagent, the test can be adapted very simply and rapidly to detect antibodies against variants of the SARS-CoV-2, or conceivably against different pathogens. HAT-field appears well suited to provide quantitative assessments of the serological protection of populations as well as individuals, and given its very low cost, the stability of the IH4-RBD reagent in the adapted buffer and the simplicity of the procedure, could be deployed pretty much anywhere, including in the poorest countries and the most remote corners of the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation The emergence of a novel strain of betacoronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has led to a pandemic that has been associated with over 700 000 deaths as of August 5, 2020. Research is ongoing around the world to create vaccines and therapies to minimize rates of disease spread and mortality. Crucial to these efforts are molecular characterizations of neutralizing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. Such antibodies would be valuable for measuring vaccine efficacy, diagnosing exposure and developing effective biotherapeutics. Here, we describe our new database, CoV-AbDab, which already contains data on over 1400 published/patented antibodies and nanobodies known to bind to at least one betacoronavirus. This database is the first consolidation of antibodies known to bind SARS-CoV-2 as well as other betacoronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV. It contains relevant metadata including evidence of cross-neutralization, antibody/nanobody origin, full variable domain sequence (where available) and germline assignments, epitope region, links to relevant PDB entries, homology models and source literature. Results On August 5, 2020, CoV-AbDab referenced sequence information on 1402 anti-coronavirus antibodies and nanobodies, spanning 66 papers and 21 patents. Of these, 1131 bind to SARS-CoV-2. Availabilityand implementation CoV-AbDab is free to access and download without registration at http://opig.stats.ox.ac.uk/webapps/coronavirus. Community submissions are encouraged. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]