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Pfeifer BA, Beitelshees M, Hill A, Bassett J, Jones CH. Harnessing synthetic biology for advancing RNA therapeutics and vaccine design. NPJ Syst Biol Appl 2023; 9:60. [PMID: 38036580 PMCID: PMC10689799 DOI: 10.1038/s41540-023-00323-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 11/15/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent global events have drawn into focus the diversity of options for combatting disease across a spectrum of prophylactic and therapeutic approaches. The recent success of the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines has paved the way for RNA-based treatments to revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry. However, historical treatment options are continuously updated and reimagined in the context of novel technical developments, such as those facilitated through the application of synthetic biology. When it comes to the development of genetic forms of therapies and vaccines, synthetic biology offers diverse tools and approaches to influence the content, dosage, and breadth of treatment with the prospect of economic advantage provided in time and cost benefits. This can be achieved by utilizing the broad tools within this discipline to enhance the functionality and efficacy of pharmaceutical agent sequences. This review will describe how synthetic biology principles can augment RNA-based treatments through optimizing not only the vaccine antigen, therapeutic construct, therapeutic activity, and delivery vector. The enhancement of RNA vaccine technology through implementing synthetic biology has the potential to shape the next generation of vaccines and therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Blaine A Pfeifer
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA
| | | | - Andrew Hill
- Pfizer, 66 Hudson Boulevard, New York, NY, 10001, USA
| | - Justin Bassett
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA
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Dalla Gasperina D, Veronesi G, Castelletti CM, Varchetta S, Ottolini S, Mele D, Ferrari G, Shaik AKB, Celesti F, Dentali F, Accolla RS, Forlani G. Humoral and Cellular Immune Response Elicited by the BNT162b2 COVID-19 Vaccine Booster in Elderly. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:13728. [PMID: 37762029 PMCID: PMC10530943 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241813728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Revised: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 08/26/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Although the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines in older people are critical to their success, little is known about their immunogenicity among elderly residents of long-term care facilities (LTCFs). A single-center prospective cohort study was conducted: a total IgG antibody titer, neutralizing antibodies against Wild-type, Delta Plus, and Omicron BA.2 variants and T cell response, were measured eight months after the second dose of BNT162b2 vaccine (T0) and at least 15 days after the booster (T1). Forty-nine LTCF residents, with a median age of 84.8 ± 10.6 years, were enrolled. Previous COVID-19 infection was documented in 42.9% of the subjects one year before T0. At T1, the IgG titers increased up to 10-fold. This ratio was lower in the subjects with previous COVID-19 infection. At T1, IgG levels were similar in both groups. The neutralizing activity against Omicron BA.2 was significantly lower (65%) than that measured against Wild-type and Delta Plus (90%). A significant increase of T cell-specific immune response was observed after the booster. Frailty, older age, sex, cognitive impairment, and comorbidities did not affect antibody titers or T cell response. In the elderly sample analyzed, the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine produced immunogenicity regardless of frailty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Dalla Gasperina
- Department of Medicine and Technological Innovation, University of Insubria, ASST Sette Laghi, 21100 Varese, Italy;
| | - Giovanni Veronesi
- Research Centre in Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (EPIMED), Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy;
| | | | - Stefania Varchetta
- Clinical Immunology-Infectious Diseases, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy;
| | - Sabrina Ottolini
- Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy;
| | - Dalila Mele
- Microbiology and Molecular Virology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico S. Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy;
| | | | - Amruth K. B. Shaik
- Laboratory of General Pathology and Immunology “Giovanna Tosi”, Department of Medicine and Technological Innovation, University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy; (A.K.B.S.); (R.S.A.)
| | - Fabrizio Celesti
- Center for Immuno-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neurosciences, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy;
| | - Francesco Dentali
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Insubria, ASST Sette Laghi, 21100 Varese, Italy;
| | - Roberto S. Accolla
- Laboratory of General Pathology and Immunology “Giovanna Tosi”, Department of Medicine and Technological Innovation, University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy; (A.K.B.S.); (R.S.A.)
| | - Greta Forlani
- Laboratory of General Pathology and Immunology “Giovanna Tosi”, Department of Medicine and Technological Innovation, University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy; (A.K.B.S.); (R.S.A.)
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Aijaz J, Kanani F, Naseer F. Utility of Roche Elecsys anti-SARS-CoV-2 S in ascertaining post-vaccine neutralizing antibodies. JOURNAL OF CLINICAL VIROLOGY PLUS 2023; 3:100137. [PMID: 36644775 PMCID: PMC9832685 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcvp.2023.100137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2022] [Revised: 12/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
With widespread global COVID-19 vaccine coverage, a scalable, cost-effective, and standardized tool to ascertain post-vaccine immunity is a dire need. Neither clinical evaluations of vaccine efficacy, nor live virus antibody neutralization assays fulfill these criteria. Commercially available anti-S binding immunological assays have the potential to fill this gap, but need to be systematically evaluated for their utility to serve as surrogates for the aforementioned, widely accepted tools of determining vaccine efficacy. In this study, we evaluated an anti-S binding immunological assay (Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S) by utilizing two hundred and fifty-five archived serum specimens, either pre-pandemic, or those exposed to natural infections or vaccines with their neutralizing titers pre-determined through a live virus, pseudotyped antibody neutralization assay. Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S demonstrated good sensitivity (98%) and specificity (99%), just as has been reported in some other previously conducted studies using this assay. Only a mild correlation, however, with the live virus pseudotyped lentivirus antibody neutralization assay (Spearman's r = 0.26) was observed. We conclude that, as such, Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S has a high sensitivity and specificity for detecting anti-SARS-CoV-2 S proteins, though the assay does not always correlate well with live virus assays for quantitative outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javeria Aijaz
- Molecular Biology Section, Pathology Department, Indus Hospital and Health Network, Plot C-76, Sector 31/5, Opposite، Crossing، Darussalam Society Sector 39 Korangi, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan,Corresponding author
| | - Fatima Kanani
- Chemical Pathology Section, Pathology Department, Indus Hospital & Health Network, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Fouzia Naseer
- Molecular Biology Section, Pathology Department, Indus Hospital and Health Network, Plot C-76, Sector 31/5, Opposite، Crossing، Darussalam Society Sector 39 Korangi, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
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Chen J, Xu W, Li L, Yi L, Jiang Y, Hao P, Xu Z, Zou W, Li P, Gao Z, Tian M, Jin N, Ren L, Li C. Immunogenicity and protective potential of chimeric virus-like particles containing SARS-CoV-2 spike and H5N1 matrix 1 proteins. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 12:967493. [PMID: 35923799 PMCID: PMC9339902 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.967493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has posed a constant threat to human beings and the world economy for more than two years. Vaccination is the first choice to control and prevent the pandemic. However, an effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccine against the virus infection is still needed. This study designed and prepared four kinds of virus-like particles (VLPs) using an insect expression system. Two constructs encoded wild-type SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) fused with or without H5N1 matrix 1 (M1) (S and SM). The other two constructs contained a codon-optimized spike gene and/or M1 gene (mS and mSM) based on protein expression, stability, and ADE avoidance. The results showed that the VLP-based vaccine could induce high SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies in mice, including specific IgG, IgG1, and IgG2a. Moreover, the mSM group has the most robust ability to stimulate humoral immunity and cellular immunity than the other VLPs, suggesting the mSM is the best immunogen. Further studies showed that the mSM combined with Al/CpG adjuvant could stimulate animals to produce sustained high-level antibodies and establish an effective protective barrier to protect mice from challenges with mouse-adapted strain. The vaccine based on mSM and Al/CpG adjuvant is a promising candidate vaccine to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Chen
- College of Veterinary medicine, Key Lab for Zoonoses Research, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, China
- Research Unit of Key Technologies for Prevention and Control of Virus Zoonoses, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, China
| | - Wang Xu
- Research Unit of Key Technologies for Prevention and Control of Virus Zoonoses, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, China
| | - Letian Li
- Research Unit of Key Technologies for Prevention and Control of Virus Zoonoses, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, China
| | - Lichao Yi
- Research Unit of Key Technologies for Prevention and Control of Virus Zoonoses, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, China
| | - Yuhang Jiang
- Research Unit of Key Technologies for Prevention and Control of Virus Zoonoses, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, China
| | - Pengfei Hao
- Research Unit of Key Technologies for Prevention and Control of Virus Zoonoses, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, China
| | - Zhiqiang Xu
- Research Unit of Key Technologies for Prevention and Control of Virus Zoonoses, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, China
| | - Wancheng Zou
- Research Unit of Key Technologies for Prevention and Control of Virus Zoonoses, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, China
| | - Peiheng Li
- Research Unit of Key Technologies for Prevention and Control of Virus Zoonoses, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, China
| | - Zihan Gao
- Research Unit of Key Technologies for Prevention and Control of Virus Zoonoses, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, China
| | - Mingyao Tian
- Research Unit of Key Technologies for Prevention and Control of Virus Zoonoses, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, China
| | - Ningyi Jin
- Research Unit of Key Technologies for Prevention and Control of Virus Zoonoses, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, China
- *Correspondence: Chang Li, ; Linzhu Ren, ; Ningyi Jin,
| | - Linzhu Ren
- College of Animal Sciences, Key Lab for Zoonoses Research, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, China
- *Correspondence: Chang Li, ; Linzhu Ren, ; Ningyi Jin,
| | - Chang Li
- Research Unit of Key Technologies for Prevention and Control of Virus Zoonoses, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, China
- *Correspondence: Chang Li, ; Linzhu Ren, ; Ningyi Jin,
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Kumar H. Fatal Reinca RNAtion of VIRUS causing COrona VIrus disease. Int Rev Immunol 2022; 41:365-366. [PMID: 35819987 DOI: 10.1080/08830185.2022.2093022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Himanshu Kumar
- Editor-in-Chief, International Reviews of Immunology & Principal Investigator, Laboratory of Immunology and Infectious Disease Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bhopal, India
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