Neutralizing monoclonal antibodies present new prospects to treat SARS-CoV-2 infections

Link to article at PubMed

Front Med. 2021 Apr 28. doi: 10.1007/s11684-021-0847-4. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused global public health and economic crises. Thus, new therapeutic strategies and effective vaccines are urgently needed to cope with this severe pandemic. The development of a broadly neutralizing antibody against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is one of the attractive treatment strategies for COVID-19. Currently, the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike (S) protein is the main target of neutralizing antibodies when SARS-CoV-2 enters human cells through an interaction between the S protein and the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 expressed on various human cells. A single monoclonal antibody (mAb) treatment is prone to selective pressure due to increased possibility of targeted epitope mutation, leading to viral escape. In addition, the antibody-dependent enhancement effect is a potential risk of enhancing the viral infection. These risks can be reduced using multiple mAbs that target nonoverlapping epitopes. Thus, a cocktail therapy combining two or more antibodies that recognize different regions of the viral surface may be the most effective therapeutic strategy.

PMID:33909259 | DOI:10.1007/s11684-021-0847-4

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