Sensitive Immunodetection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Variants of Concern 501Y.V2 and 501Y.V1.

Barlev-Gross, Moria; Weiss, Shay; Paran, Nir; Yahalom-Ronen, Yfat; Israeli, Ofir; Nemet, Ital; Kliker, Limor; Zuckerman, Neta; Glinert, Itai; Noy-Porat, Tal; Alcalay, Ron; Rosenfeld, Ronit; Levy, Haim; Mazor, Ohad; Mandelboim, Michal; Mendelson, Ella; Beth-Din, Adi; Israely, Tomer; Mechaly, Adva

Emerging severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants may influence the effectiveness of existing laboratory diagnostics. In the current study we determined whether the British (20I/501Y.V1) and South African (20H/501Y.V2) SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern are detected with an in-house S1-based antigen detection assay, analyzing spiked pools of quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction-negative nasopharyngeal swab specimens. The assay, combining 4 monoclonal antibodies, allowed sensitive detection of both the wild type and the variants of concern, despite accumulation of several mutations in the variants' S1 region-results suggesting that this combination, targeting distinct epitopes, enables both specificity and the universality.