Deciphering the Role of Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses in Different COVID-19 Vaccines-A Comparison of Vaccine Candidate Genes in Roborovski Dwarf Hamsters.
Viruses
; 13(11)2021 11 16.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1524173
ABSTRACT
With the exception of inactivated vaccines, all SARS-CoV-2 vaccines currently used for clinical application focus on the spike envelope glycoprotein as a virus-specific antigen. Compared to other SARS-CoV-2 genes, mutations in the spike protein gene are more rapidly selected and spread within the population, which carries the risk of impairing the efficacy of spike-based vaccines. It is unclear to what extent the loss of neutralizing antibody epitopes can be compensated by cellular immune responses, and whether the use of other SARS-CoV-2 antigens might cause a more diverse immune response and better long-term protection, particularly in light of the continued evolution towards new SARS-CoV-2 variants. To address this question, we explored immunogenicity and protective effects of adenoviral vectors encoding either the full-length spike protein (S), the nucleocapsid protein (N), the receptor binding domain (RBD) or a hybrid construct of RBD and the membrane protein (M) in a highly susceptible COVID-19 hamster model. All adenoviral vaccines provided life-saving protection against SARS-CoV-2-infection. The most efficient protection was achieved after exposure to full-length spike. However, the nucleocapsid protein, which triggered a robust T-cell response but did not facilitate the formation of neutralizing antibodies, controlled early virus replication efficiently and prevented severe pneumonia. Although the full-length spike protein is an excellent target for vaccines, it does not appear to be the only option for future vaccine design.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Immunity, Humoral
/
Immunogenicity, Vaccine
/
COVID-19 Vaccines
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
/
Immunity, Cellular
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Vaccines
/
Variants
Limits:
Animals
Language:
English
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
V13112290
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