ArticleCommunications medicine2026
Host proteins associated with strong neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses in a South African cohort.
Article in Communications medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Host proteins associated with strong neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses in a South African cohort.Communications medicine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSevere Covid-19 leads to higher neutralizing antibody levels, a key correlate of protection. However, the host proteins associated with this response have not been fully characterized. We asked which proteins in the blood plasma associate with neutralization, anti-spike antibody levels, and disease severity in a South African cohort upon first SARS-CoV-2 exposure.
methodsWe used a longitudinal observational cohort design to collect blood at 6 days (acute infection) and 32 days (convalescence) post-diagnosis. We performed SomaScan proteomics on acute blood plasma and measured SARS-CoV-2 plasma neutralization capacity and anti-spike antibody levels in convalescent plasma. Disease severity was scored based on requirement for supplemental oxygen and was mild to moderate (no critically ill participants).
resultsWe find differentially expressed proteins associating with neutralization, anti-spike antibody levels, and disease severity, with strong overlap between proteins associated with neutralization and spike binding, and moderate overlap between neutralization and disease severity. High neutralizers, regardless of requirement for supplemental oxygen, are found to have risk factors and markers for being more ill compared to low neutralizers. We can reasonably predict who becomes a high neutralizer based on individual proteins. The best predictor for neutralization is HSPA8, known to bind viral proteins and cross-present extracellular antigens. The strongest associated pathway is fatty acid metabolism, whose inhibition results in suppression of viral replication.
conclusionsThese results show that host proteins and pathways involved early in SARS-CoV-2 infection associate with neutralizing antibody levels elicited by the infection at convalescence.
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