Raw data for No higher infectivity but immune escape of SARS-CoV-2 501Y.V2 variants

The 501Y.V2 variants of SARS-CoV-2 containing multiple mutations in the spike region spread over many countries. Whether their biological characteristics including infectivity and antigenicity have been altered was not clear. In present study, we found that they had no significant increased effect on infectivity to human cell lines and cells overexpressing human ACE2, but increased infectivity in cells overexpressing mouse ACE2 based on the pseudotyped viruses comparing to 614G variant. The susceptibility of 501Y.V2 variants to many neutralizing monoclonal antibodies decreased significantly. These variants also had a significantly reduced effect on the neutralization ability of convalescent and RBD immunized sera. The immune resistances were mainly caused by E484K and N501Y mutations located in RBD. These data suggest that the enhancement of infectivity in mouse cells may lead to the spillover of 501Y.V2 to mouse. The immune resistance of 501Y.V2 may compromise the efficacy of monoclonal antibodies, convalescent sera and vaccines.