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AI recognizes convergent somatic hypermutation signatures to allow the discovery of variant-resilient broadly neutralizing antibodies
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AI recognizes convergent somatic hypermutation signatures to allow the discovery of variant-resilient broadly…

Qihong Yan, Xiaohan Huang, Banghui Liu +25 more
December 2025
 ·
bioRxiv
 ·
DOI 
10.64898/2025.12.10.693372
94
%
Reproducible
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Why this is interesting

Decoding seven convergent somatic hypermutations that mechanistically drive pan-variant breadth, and using an AI trained on this signature to prospectively discover protective antibodies from early repertoires, this work transforms pandemic immunology from reactive cataloguing into predictive design.

QED claims analysis

Summary

Sequential SARS-CoV-2 Omicron breakthrough infections drive convergent somatic hypermutations at seven key positions in VH3-53/3-66 antibodies that cooperatively expand neutralization breadth against immune-evasive variants, and an AI-based antibody language model trained to recognize these convergent mutation signatures can prospectively identify rare, mutation-tolerant broadly neutralizing antibodies from early-pandemic repertoires that provide robust protection in vivo.

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Main Claim 1 –

Sequential Spike Mutations Accumulate in VH3-53/3-66 Epitope

Main Claim 2 –

VH3-53/3-66 Lineage Dominates Durable Immunity in Elite Neutralizers

Main Claim 3 –

Repeated Omicron Breakthroughs Drive Convergent SHMs in VH3-53/3-66

Supporting evidence

  • Convergent SHMs Increase VH3-53/3-66 Neutralization Potency and Breadth
  • Convergent SHMs Remodel CDRs to Tolerate RBD Escape Mutations
Main Claim 4 –

Antibody Language Model Predicts Breadth and Finds Variant-Resilient bnAbs

Supporting evidence

  • AI-Discovered R102-9 Carries Convergent SHMs Enabling Broad Neutralization
  • R102-9 Uses Natural bnAb-like Structural Mechanism for Breadth
  • AI-Discovered R102-9 Protects Mice from SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Abstract

Elucidating the mechanisms by which broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) develop to confer durable immunity in humans is pivotal for the rational design of next-generation vaccines and therapeutics. VH3-53/3-66-encoded public antibodies are widely elicited in the population after the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we isolated 15 VH3-53/3-66-encoded bnAbs from elite neutralizers who experienced sequential SARS-CoV-2 Omicron breakthrough infections. These bnAbs exhibit exceptional potency and breadth against circulating variants and, as members of a long-lived public antibody lineage, likely contribute to durable humoral protection. Genetic analysis of VH3-53/3-66-encoded bnAbs reveals a convergent somatic hypermutation pattern at seven positions in and around the CDR loops that emerges with repeated viral exposures and distinguishes them from non-bnAbs. Grafting these combined mutations onto clinically escaped antibodies broadens their breadth and restores neutralization activity. Structural analysis shows that these convergent mutations cooperatively remodel CDRs to bind and tolerate virus receptor-binding domain mutations. Using an AI-based antibody language model trained on data linking somatic hypermutations to binding affinity and neutralization, the model is able to identify mutational patterns predictive of breadth, enabling the discovery of a rare bnAb with protective activity against the latest variants from early-pandemic antibody repertoires. This demonstrates the feasibility of establishing an AI-empowered pipeline to identify mutation-tolerant bnAbs from early-pandemic antibody repertoires to fight fast-evolving newly introduced viruses.

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