Next-generation multiplex surrogate neutralization test

*Wee Chee Yap¹, Beng Lee Lim², Shirley Yun Yan Mah², Chee Wah Tan^1,2

Abstract

Surveillance of zoonotic viruses in wildlife has revealed that bats harbor multiple zoonotic pathogens that pose a high risk of zoonotic spillover due to their use of well-conserved molecules as receptors. Preexisting human adaptive immunity, such as neutralizing antibodies, plays a crucial role in preventing zoonotic spillovers from becoming pandemics. The devastating impacts of the pandemic are well-evident in the current COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the inadequacy of existing pandemic preparedness strategies. Therefore, active surveillance of population immunity and antigenic characterization are essential for timely public health interventions.

This study demonstrated that Nipah-specific infection/vaccination induces high-level neutralizing antibodies against homologous strains, with limited to no cross-reactivity neutralizing antibodies against antigenic distinct viruses, thus highlighting the zoonotic potential of these closely related animal viruses.

Acknowledgements

This work is supported in part by grants from the National Medical Research Council (STPRG-FY19-001, COVID19RF-003, COVID19RF-060, MOH-000535/MOH-OFYIRG19nov-0002 and OFLCG19May-0034). References Tan CW et al., 2020. Nature Biotechnology 38(9), 1073-1078. Tan CW et al., 2021. New England Journal of Medicine 385(15), 1401-1406. Tan CW et al., 2022. Nature Microbiology 7(11), 1756-1761.

1 Infectious Diseases Translational Research Programme, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
2 Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore.