Protective Immunity against SARS Subunit Vaccine Candidates Based on Spike Protein: Lessons for Coronavirus Vaccine Development.

Atin Khalaj-Hedayati

doi:10.1155/2020/7201752

Abstract

The recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, has highlighted the threat that highly pathogenic coronaviruses have on global health security and the imminent need to design an effective vaccine for prevention purposes. Although several attempts have been made to develop vaccines against human coronavirus infections since the emergence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in 2003, there is no available licensed vaccine yet. A better understanding of previous coronavirus vaccine studies may help to design a vaccine for the newly emerged virus, SARS-CoV-2, that may also cover other pathogenic coronaviruses as a potentially universal vaccine. In general, coronavirus spike protein is the major antigen for the vaccine design as it can induce neutralizing antibodies and protective immunity. By considering the high genetic similarity between SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, here, protective immunity against SARS-CoV spike subunit vaccine candidates in animal models has been reviewed to gain advances that can facilitate coronavirus vaccine development in the near future.

Highlights

Before 2003, coronaviruses were known to cause only common cold in humans, but currently, they are the reason for three outbreaks in the 21st century: 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), 2012 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) [1]
The final reference list was generated based on this selection and relevant articles to the subtopics covered in this review, to highlight the immunological evidence base for coronavirus vaccine development and provide recommendations for navigating the limitations
The development of effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccine is crucial in aid of our public health preparedness against the current COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

Introduction

Before 2003, coronaviruses were known to cause only common cold in humans, but currently, they are the reason for three outbreaks in the 21st century: 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), 2012 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) [1]. Pathophysiological, and immunological researches, which have been done on Betacoronaviruses may shed light on the understanding of SARS-CoV-2 This newly emerged virus is genetically more closer to SARS-CoV than MERS coronavirus with the existence of 380 amino acid substitution differences in the encoded proteins [7,8,9]. Previous advances made in developing SARS-CoV vaccines could be exploited for designing a vaccine for current COVID-19 pandemic and for other highly pathogenic coronaviruses, so-called universal vaccine. This vaccine can be effective against all strains of the virus as a consequence of cross-protective immunity against conserved antigens. This article reviewed the in vivo protective immunity of SARS-CoV S-protein vaccine candidates to provide an immunological evidence base that can aid coronavirus vaccine development in the future

Search Strategy and Selection Criteria

Coronavirus Spike Protein

What Immune Responses Are Required after Coronavirus Vaccination?

In Vivo Protective Immunity of SARS-CoV Spike-Based Vaccine Candidates

Findings

Conclusion