Abstract
Despite the rapid deployment of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines, the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants and reports of their immune evasion characteristics have led to an urgent need for novel vaccines that confer potent cross-protective immunity. In this study, we constructed three different SARS-CoV-2 spike S1-conjugated nanoparticle vaccine candidates that exhibited high structural homogeneity and stability. Notably, these vaccines elicited up to 50-times-higher neutralizing antibody titers than the S1 monomer in mice. Crucially, it was found that the S1-conjugated nanoparticle vaccine could elicit comparable levels of neutralizing antibodies against wild-type or emerging variant SARS-CoV-2, with cross-reactivity to SARS-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), the effect of which could be further enhanced using our designed nanoparticles. Our results indicate that the S1-conjugated nanoparticles are promising vaccine candidates with the potential to elicit potent and cross-reactive immunity against not only wild-type SARS-CoV-2, but also its variants of concern, variants of interest, and even other pathogenic betacoronaviruses. IMPORTANCE The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants led to an urgent demand for a broadly effective vaccine against the threat of variant infection. The spike protein S1-based nanoparticle designed in our study could elicit a comprehensive humoral response toward different SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and variants of interest and will be helpful to combat COVID-19 globally.
Keywords: Omicron; S1; SARS-CoV-2; nanoparticle vaccine; variants of concern.
【저자키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, omicron, S1, nanoparticle vaccine, variants of concern., 【초록키워드】 COVID-19, neutralizing antibody, Vaccine, coronavirus, Immunity, Vaccines, Neutralizing antibodies, SARS-CoV, variant, SARS-CoV-2 variant, Infection, variants of concern, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, omicron, MERS-CoV, variants, Spike protein, cross-reactivity, immune evasion, stability, Characteristics, SARS-CoV-2 variants, mice, Middle East respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, vaccine candidate, variants of interest, respiratory, Antibody titers, Neutralizing antibody titer, cross-protective immunity, SARS-CoV-2 spike, betacoronaviruses, Middle East, humoral, cross-reactive, acute respiratory syndrome, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, neutralizing antibody titers, wild-type SARS-CoV-2, wild-type, pathogenic, vaccine candidates, homogeneity, novel vaccines, respiratory syndrome coronavirus, monomer, spike protein S1, effective, exhibited, elicit, comparable, elicited, 【제목키워드】 response, nanoparticle, induction,