biostudies-literatureUnknownWang WNIAID NIH HHSAntigenic assessments of SARS-CoV-2 variants inform decisions to update COVID-19 vaccines. Primary infection sera are often used for assessments, but such sera are rare due to population immunity from SARS-CoV-2 infections and COVID-19 vaccinations. Here, we show that neutralization titers and breadth of matched human and hamster pre-Omicron variant primary infection sera correlate well and generate similar antigenic maps. The hamster antigenic map shows modest antigenic drift among XBB sub-lineage variants, with JN.1 and BA.4/BA.5 variants within the XBB cluster, but with five to six-fold antigenic differences between these variants and XBB.1.5. Compared to sera following only ancestral or bivalent COVID-19 vaccinations, or with post-vaccination infections, XBB.1.5 booster sera had the brbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2024.04.05.588359https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC11071293biostudies-literatureAntigenic cartography using hamster sera identifies SARS-CoV-2 JN.1 evasion seen in human XBB.1.5 booster sera.PMC11071293Y01 AI005072HHSN272201800013CGoguet ESelvaraj PLusvarghi SKatzelnick LCBhushan GLPaz SConte MAEpsi NJAgan BStauft CBMitre EBishop-Lilly KAHolbrook MRVassell RBurgess THWeiss CDFung CKRichard SAWang WCong YPollett SDSubramanian RWang TTFries AfalseAntigenic cartography using hamster sera identifies SARS-CoV-2 JN.1 evasion seen in human XBB.1.5 booster sera.Antigenic assessments of SARS-CoV-2 variants inform decisions to update COVID-19 vaccines. Primary infection sera are often used for assessments, but such sera are rare due to population immunity from SARS-CoV-2 infections and COVID-19 vaccinations. Here, we show that neutralization titers and breadth of matched human and hamster pre-Omicron variant primary infection sera correlate well and generate similar antigenic maps. The hamster antigenic map shows modest antigenic drift among XBB sub-lineage variants, with JN.1 and BA.4/BA.5 variants within the XBB cluster, but with five to six-fold antigenic differences between these variants and XBB.1.5. Compared to sera following only ancestral or bivalent COVID-19 vaccinations, or with post-vaccination infections, XBB.1.5 booster sera had the br2024-01-01T00:00:00Z2024 Apr2026-07-01T03:14:35.727Z2026-07-01T03:07:56.136ZS-EPMC110712933871212410.1101/2024.04.05.588359