Key result
Pediatric SARS-CoV-2 antibodies match adult genetics and potently neutralize variants resistant to approved monoclonal therapies.
Why the study?
Children exhibit different susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease compared with adults, motivating characterization of SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing antibody repertoires in children.
Observational
Children possess SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies with similar genetic features to adults, offering a potential source for discovering effective antibody therapeutics.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
May inform pediatric vaccine strategies; hypothesis-generating for age-specific SARS-CoV-2 immunity differences.
From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, children have exhibited different susceptibility to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, reinfection, and disease compared with adults. Motivated by the established significance of SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing antibodies in adults, here we characterize SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody repertoires in a young cohort of individuals aged from 5 months to 18 years old. Our results show that neutralizing antibodies in children possess similar genetic features compared to antibodies identified in adults, with multiple antibodies from children belonging to previously established public antibody clonotypes in adults. Notably, antibodies from children show potent neutralization of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants that have cumulatively resulted in resistance to virtually all approved monoclonal antibody therapeutics. Our results show that children can rely on similar SARS-CoV-2 antibody neutralization mechanisms compared to adults and are an underutilized source for the discovery of effective antibody therapeutics to counteract the ever-evolving pandemic.
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Wall et al. (2023) conducted an observational in SARS-CoV-2 infection. SARS-CoV-2 antibodies from children vs. SARS-CoV-2 antibodies from adults was evaluated on Genetic features and neutralization of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants. SARS-CoV-2 antibodies from children possess similar genetic features to adult antibodies and show potent neutralization of circulating variants resistant to approved monoclonal therapeutics.
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