Vaccination with a bacterial peptide conjugated to SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain accelerates immunity and protects against COVID-19

Vaccination with a bacterial peptide conjugated to SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain accelerates immunity and protects against COVID-19

Poor immunogenicity of critical epitopes can hamper vaccine efficacy. To boost immune recognition of non- or low-immunogenic antigens, we developed a vaccine platform based on the conjugation of a target protein to a chimeric designer peptide (CDP) of bacterial origin. Here, we exploited this immune...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:iScience 2022-08, Vol.25 (8), p.104719-104719, Article 104719
Main Authors: Blanas, Athanasios, Karsjens, Haiko, de Ligt, Aafke, Huijbers, Elisabeth J.M., van Loon, Karlijn, Denisov, Stepan S., Durukan, Canan, Engbersen, Diederik J.M., Groen, Jan, Hennig, Sven, Hackeng, Tilman M., van Beijnum, Judy R., Griffioen, Arjan W.
Format: Article
Language:eng
Subjects:
Biological sciences
Immune response
Immunology
Virology
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:Poor immunogenicity of critical epitopes can hamper vaccine efficacy. To boost immune recognition of non- or low-immunogenic antigens, we developed a vaccine platform based on the conjugation of a target protein to a chimeric designer peptide (CDP) of bacterial origin. Here, we exploited this immune Boost (iBoost) technology to enhance the immune response against the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein. Despite its fundamental role during viral infection, RBD is only moderately immunogenic. Immunization studies in mice showed that the conjugation of CDP to RBD induced superior immune responses compared to RBD alone. CDP-RBD elicited cross-reactive antibodies against the variants of concern Delta and Omicron. Furthermore, hamsters vaccinated with CDP-RBD developed potent neutralizing antibody responses and were fully protected from lung lesion formation upon challenge with SARS-CoV-2. In sum, we show that the iBoost conjugate vaccine technology provides a valuable tool for both quantitatively and qualitatively enhancing anti-viral immunity. [Display omitted] •An iBoost-based CDP-RBD conjugate vaccine against SARS-CoV-2•Induction of potent RBD-specific humoral and cellular responses•CDP-RBD vaccination protects hamsters from lung lesion formation Biological sciences; Immunology; Immune response; Virology
ISSN:2589-0042
2589-0042