“We were interested in learning more about the exact antibody response to this variant — to see what conclusions can be drawn from this about the immune response to other variants. Since the coronavirus is likely to continue mutating, we were interested in whether the antibodies we found acted only against the Beta variant or had broader potential,” says Dr. Momsen Reincke, a researcher at DZNE and the Department of Neurology with Experimental Neurology on Campus Charité Mitte as well as one of the first authors of the current publication in Science.

“We tested if antibodies against the Beta variant are also effective against other virus variants. This is called cross-reactivity. Our analyses show that some of these antibodies do little against the wild type. Others, however, are very effective against the original virus strain and also against some of the Variants of Concern. Some of the antibodies against Beta are even effective against the currently circulating variants Delta and Omicron,” says Dr. Jakob Kreye, last author of the study and a scientist at DZNE and Charité’s Department of Pediatric Neurology as well as the Department of Neurology with Experimental Neurology.

Largest possible diversity in the antibody response seems to make sense,” says Prof. Dr. Harald Prüss, research group leader at DZNE and senior physician at the Department of Neurology with Experimental Neurology on Campus Charité Mitte.

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