The current 15-month coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has accounted for 3.77 million deaths and enormous worldwide social and economic losses. A high volume of vaccine production is urgently required to eliminate COVID-19. Inexpensive and robust production platforms will improve the distribution of vaccines to resource-limited countries. Plant species offer such platforms, particularly through the production of recombinant proteins to serve as immunogens. To achieve this goal, here we expressed the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein in the glycoengineered-tobacco plant Nicotiana benthamiana to provide a candidate subunit vaccine. This recombinant RBD elicited humoral immunity in mice via induction of highly neutralizing antibodies. These findings provide a strong foundation to further advance the development of plant-expressed RBD antigens for use as an effective, safe, and inexpensive SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Moreover, our study further highlights the utility of plant species for vaccine development.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, neutralizing antibody, SARS-CoV-2, Humoral immunity, receptor binding domain (RBD), Nicotiana benthamiana, transient expression, plant-based vaccine, glycoengineering, plant specific glycosylation, 【초록키워드】 Vaccine, Vaccine development, pandemic, Neutralizing antibodies, SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, Receptor binding domain, Protein, Coronavirus disease-19, mice, RBD, death, plant, distribution, utility, platform, Safe, Recombinant protein, Nicotiana benthamiana, Volume, subunit, offer, RBD antigen, vaccine production, immunogens, effective, highlight, robust, IMPROVE, caused, required, accounted, expressed, elicited, the SARS-CoV-2, 【제목키워드】 spike, the SARS-CoV-2,