Abstract
The development of an effective vaccine to control the global coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus- 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is of utmost importance. In this study, a synthetic DNA-based vaccine candidate, known as pSV10-SARS-CoV-2, expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein was designed and tested in 39 BALB/c mice with BC01, an adjuvant derived from unmethylated CpG motif-containing DNA fragments from the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin genome. Mice vaccinated with pSV10-SARS-CoV-2 with BC01 produced early neutralizing antibodies and developed stronger humoral and cellular immune responses compared to mice that received the DNA vaccine only. Moreover, sera from mice vaccinated with pSV10-SARS-CoV-2 with BC01 can neutralize certain variants, including 614G, 614G + 472 V, 452R, 483A, 501Y.V2, and B.1.1.7. The results of this study demonstrate that the addition of BC01 to a DNA-vaccine for COVID-19 could elicit more effective neutralizing antibody titers for disease prevention.
Keywords: BC01 adjuvant; COVID-19; DNA vaccine; SARS-COV-2.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, DNA vaccine, BC01 adjuvant, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus disease, neutralizing antibody, SARS-CoV-2, Vaccine, coronavirus, pandemic, Cellular immune response, Genome, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, variants, Spike protein, Severe acute respiratory syndrome, DNA, B.1.1.7, mice, 501Y.V2, immune responses, sera, SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, vaccine candidate, adjuvant, respiratory, disease, DNA vaccine, Antibody titers, Neutralizing antibody titer, CpG, humoral, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, coronavirus-, acute respiratory syndrome, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, neutralizing antibody titers, BALB/c mice, effective, neutralize, DNA fragment, produced, tested, caused, addition, elicit, expressing, the SARS-CoV-2, unmethylated, 【제목키워드】 immune response, CpG, Genomic DNA, IMPROVE,