Sensitive immunodetection of SARS-CoV-2 variants-of-concern 501Y.V2 and 501Y.V1

Abstract

Emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants potentially influence the effectiveness of existing laboratory diagnostics. In this study we determined whether the British (20I/501Y.V1) and South-African (20H/501Y.V2) SARS-CoV-2 variants-of-concern (VOC) are detected by an in-house S1-based antigen-detection assay. Analysis was performed in spiked pools of qRT-PCR negative nasopharyngeal swab specimens. The assay, composed of a combination of four monoclonal antibodies, allowed sensitive detection of both the wild-type and the analyzed VOCs, despite the accumulation of several mutations in the variants’ S1 region. We suggest that the combination of four monoclonal antibodies, targeting distinct epitopes, maintained both the specificity and the universality of the assay.