Fab-dimerized glycan-reactive antibodies are a structural category of natural antibodies.

Natural antibodies (Abs) can target host glycans on the surface of pathogens. We studied the evolution of glycan-reactive B cells of rhesus macaques and humans using glycosylated HIV-1 envelope (Env) as a model antigen. 2G12 is a broadly neutralizing Ab (bnAb) that targets a conserved glycan patch on Env of geographically diverse HIV-1 strains using a unique heavy-chain (V _H ) domain-swapped architecture that results in fragment antigen-binding (Fab) dimerization. Here, we describe HIV-1 Env Fab-dimerized glycan (FDG)-reactive bnAbs without V _H -swapped domains from simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV)-infected macaques. FDG Abs also recognized cell-surface glycans on diverse pathogens, including yeast and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike. FDG precursors were expanded by glycan-bearing immunogens in macaques and were abundant in HIV-1-naive humans. Moreover, FDG precursors were predominately mutated IgM ⁺ IgD ⁺ CD27 ⁺ , thus suggesting that they originated from a pool of antigen-experienced IgM ⁺ or marginal zone B cells.
Competing Interests: Declaration of interests B.A. and W.E.W. are co-founders of Chemitope Technologies, and G.M.L. is a founder of Avidea Technologies that now commercially produce peptides used in our HIV-1 vaccination regimen. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.
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