1. A pseudovirus-based platform to measure neutralizing antibodies in Mexico using SARS-CoV-2 as proof-of-concept.
- Author
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Cruz-Cardenas JA, Gutierrez M, López-Arredondo A, Castañeda-Delgado JE, Rojas-Martinez A, Nakamura Y, Enciso-Moreno JA, Palomares LA, and Brunck MEG
- Subjects
- Humans, SARS-CoV-2, Neutralization Tests methods, Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus metabolism, Antibodies, Viral, Mexico, Luciferases genetics, Antiviral Agents, Antibodies, Neutralizing, COVID-19
- Abstract
The gold-standard method to evaluate a functional antiviral immune response is to titer neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) against a viral pathogen. This is historically performed using an in vitro assay of virus-mediated infection, which requires BSL-3 facilities. As these are insufficient in Latin American countries, including Mexico, scant information is obtained locally about viral pathogens NAb, using a functional assay. An alternative solution to using a BSL-3 assay with live virus is to use a BSL-2-safe assay with a non-replicative pseudovirus. Pseudoviral particles can be engineered to display a selected pathogen's entry protein on their surface, and to deliver a reporter gene into target cells upon transduction. Here we comprehensively describe the first development of a BSL-2 safe NAbs-measuring functional assay in Mexico, based on the production of pseudotyped lentiviral particles. As proof-of-concept, the assay is based on Nanoluc luciferase-mediated luminescence measurements from target cells transduced with SARS-CoV-2 Spike-pseudotyped lentiviral particles. We applied the optimized assay in a BSL-2 facility to measure NAbs in 65 serum samples, which evidenced the assay with 100% sensitivity, 86.6% specificity and 96% accuracy. Overall, this is the first report of a BSL-2 safe pseudovirus-based functional assay developed in Mexico to measure NAbs, and a cornerstone methodology necessary to measure NAbs with a functional assay in limited resources settings., (© 2022. The Author(s).)
- Published
- 2022
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