Abstract
Multiple safe and effective vaccines that elicit immune responses against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are necessary to respond to the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Here, we developed a protein subunit vaccine composed of spike ectodomain protein (StriFK) plus a nitrogen bisphosphonate-modified zinc-aluminum hybrid adjuvant (FH002C). StriFK-FH002C generated substantially higher neutralizing antibody titers in mice, hamsters, and cynomolgus monkeys than those observed in plasma isolated from COVID-19 convalescent individuals. StriFK-FH002C also induced both TH1- and TH2-polarized helper T cell responses in mice. In hamsters, StriFK-FH002C immunization protected animals against SARS-CoV-2 challenge, as shown by the absence of virus-induced weight loss, fewer symptoms of disease, and reduced lung pathology. Vaccination of hamsters with StriFK-FH002C also reduced within-cage virus transmission to unvaccinated, cohoused hamsters. In summary, StriFK-FH002C represents an effective, protein subunit-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate.
Highlights
The coronavirus pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is changing the landscape of global public health
Mice that received RBDTfd-FH002C, StriFK-Al001, StriFK-FH002C, and S1-FH002C showed detectable anti-receptor binding domain (RBD) antibodies (Fig. 1C, middle). At this time point, only mice immunized with StriFK-FH002C produced pseudovirus neutralizing antibody (Fig. 1C, bottom)
We systematically evaluated the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a recombinant SARS-CoV-2 subunit vaccine candidate, StriFK-FH002C, in three animal models
Summary
The coronavirus pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is changing the landscape of global public health. Many efforts have slowed virus transmission, one of the essential tools to respond to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an effective and safe vaccine. An array of distinct platforms is currently being used for vaccine development against COVID-19 [13,14,15,16,17,18,19]. Subunit vaccines, those that can be prepared using recombinant DNA technology, are advantageous because of their documented safety and compatibility with multiple boosts if necessary [20]
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