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Zhang X, Wu J, Luo Y, Wang Y, Wu Y, Xu X, Zhang Y, Kong R, Chi Y, Sun Y, Chen S, He Q, Zhu F, Zhou Z. CovEpiAb: a comprehensive database and analysis resource for immune epitopes and antibodies of human coronaviruses. Brief Bioinform 2024; 25:bbae183. [PMID: 38653491 PMCID: PMC11036340 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbae183] [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: 01/03/2024] [Revised: 02/24/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Coronaviruses have threatened humans repeatedly, especially COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2, which has posed a substantial threat to global public health. SARS-CoV-2 continuously evolves through random mutation, resulting in a significant decrease in the efficacy of existing vaccines and neutralizing antibody drugs. It is critical to assess immune escape caused by viral mutations and develop broad-spectrum vaccines and neutralizing antibodies targeting conserved epitopes. Thus, we constructed CovEpiAb, a comprehensive database and analysis resource of human coronavirus (HCoVs) immune epitopes and antibodies. CovEpiAb contains information on over 60 000 experimentally validated epitopes and over 12 000 antibodies for HCoVs and SARS-CoV-2 variants. The database is unique in (1) classifying and annotating cross-reactive epitopes from different viruses and variants; (2) providing molecular and experimental interaction profiles of antibodies, including structure-based binding sites and around 70 000 data on binding affinity and neutralizing activity; (3) providing virological characteristics of current and past circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants and in vitro activity of various therapeutics; and (4) offering site-level annotations of key functional features, including antibody binding, immunological epitopes, SARS-CoV-2 mutations and conservation across HCoVs. In addition, we developed an integrated pipeline for epitope prediction named COVEP, which is available from the webpage of CovEpiAb. CovEpiAb is freely accessible at https://pgx.zju.edu.cn/covepiab/.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xue Zhang
- National Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery and Release Systems & Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - JingCheng Wu
- National Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery and Release Systems & Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Yuanyuan Luo
- National Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery and Release Systems & Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Yilin Wang
- National Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery and Release Systems & Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Yujie Wu
- National Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery and Release Systems & Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Xiaobin Xu
- National Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery and Release Systems & Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Yufang Zhang
- National Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery and Release Systems & Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Ruiying Kong
- National Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery and Release Systems & Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Ying Chi
- Alibaba-Zhejiang University Joint Research Center of Future Digital Healthcare, Hangzhou 310058, China
- ZJU-UoE Institute, Zhejiang University, Haining 314400, China
| | - Yisheng Sun
- Key Lab of Vaccine, Prevention and Control of Infectious Disease of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310015, China
| | - Shuqing Chen
- National Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery and Release Systems & Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Qiaojun He
- National Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery and Release Systems & Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
- Zhejiang University Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, Engineering Research Center of Innovative Anticancer Drugs, Ministry of Education, Hangzhou 310018, China
| | - Feng Zhu
- National Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery and Release Systems & Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
- Zhejiang University Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, Engineering Research Center of Innovative Anticancer Drugs, Ministry of Education, Hangzhou 310018, China
- Alibaba-Zhejiang University Joint Research Center of Future Digital Healthcare, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Zhan Zhou
- National Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery and Release Systems & Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
- Zhejiang University Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, Engineering Research Center of Innovative Anticancer Drugs, Ministry of Education, Hangzhou 310018, China
- Alibaba-Zhejiang University Joint Research Center of Future Digital Healthcare, Hangzhou 310058, China
- The Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Yiwu 322000, China
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Zhang J, Sun B, Shen W, Wang Z, Liu Y, Sun Y, Zhang J, Liu R, Wang Y, Bai T, Ma Z, Luo C, Qiao X, Zhang X, Yang S, Sun Y, Jiang D, Yang K. In Silico Analyses, Experimental Verification and Application in DNA Vaccines of Ebolavirus GP-Derived pan-MHC-II-Restricted Epitopes. Vaccines (Basel) 2023; 11:1620. [PMID: 37897022 PMCID: PMC10610722 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11101620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2023] [Revised: 10/08/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
(1) Background and Purpose: Ebola virus (EBOV) is the causative agent of Ebola virus disease (EVD), which causes extremely high mortality and widespread epidemics. The only glycoprotein (GP) on the surface of EBOV particles is the key to mediating viral invasion into host cells. DNA vaccines for EBOV are in development, but their effectiveness is unclear. The lack of immune characteristics resides in antigenic MHC class II reactivity. (2) Methods: We selected MHC-II molecules from four human leukocyte antigen II (HLA-II) superfamilies with 98% population coverage and eight mouse H2-I alleles. IEDB, NetMHCIIpan, SYFPEITHI, and Rankpep were used to screen MHC-II-restricted epitopes with high affinity for EBOV GP. Further immunogenicity and conservation analyses were performed using VaxiJen and BLASTp, respectively. EpiDock was used to simulate molecular docking. Cluster analysis and binding affinity analysis of EBOV GP epitopes and selected MHC-II molecules were performed using data from NetMHCIIpan. The selective GP epitopes were verified by the enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) assay using splenocytes of BALB/c (H2d), C3H, and C57 mice after DNA vaccine pVAX-GPEBO immunization. Subsequently, BALB/c mice were immunized with Protein-GPEBO, plasmid pVAX-GPEBO, and pVAX-LAMP/GPEBO, which encoded EBOV GP. The dominant epitopes of BALB/c (H-2-I-AdEd genotype) mice were verified by the enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) assay. It is also used to evaluate and explore the advantages of pVAX-LAMP/GPEBO and the reasons behind them. (3) Results: Thirty-one HLA-II-restricted and 68 H2-I-restricted selective epitopes were confirmed to have high affinity, immunogenicity, and conservation. Nineteen selective epitopes have cross-species reactivity with good performance in MHC-II molecular docking. The ELISpot results showed that pVAX-GPEBO could induce a cellular immune response to the synthesized selective peptides. The better immunoprotection of the DNA vaccines pVAX-LAMP/GPEBO coincides with the enhancement of the MHC class II response. (4) Conclusions: Promising MHC-II-restricted candidate epitopes of EBOV GP were identified in humans and mice, which is of great significance for the development and evaluation of Ebola vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junqi Zhang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Baozeng Sun
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
- Yingtan Detachment, Jiangxi Corps, Chinese People’s Armed Police Force, Yingtan 335000, China
| | - Wenyang Shen
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Zhenjie Wang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Yang Liu
- Institute of AIDS Prevention and Control, Shaanxi Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Xi’an 710054, China;
| | - Yubo Sun
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Jiaxing Zhang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Ruibo Liu
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Yongkai Wang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Tianyuan Bai
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Zilu Ma
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Cheng Luo
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Xupeng Qiao
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Xiyang Zhang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Shuya Yang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Yuanjie Sun
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Dongbo Jiang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
- Institute of AIDS Prevention and Control, Shaanxi Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Xi’an 710054, China;
| | - Kun Yang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
- The Key Laboratory of Bio-Hazard Damage and Prevention Medicine, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China
- Department of Rheumatology, Tangdu Hospital, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710038, China
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Rangacharya O, Parab A, Adkine S, Nagargoje R. A study on the design of an in silico self-amplifying mRNA vaccine against Nipah virus using immunoinformatics. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2023; 41:12777-12788. [PMID: 36744525 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2175256] [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: 08/26/2022] [Accepted: 01/06/2023] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The scientific community continues to be impressed with RNA-based vaccines with great efficacy, quick synthesis and speed-to-market. The traditional vaccine may require large doses or repeat injections to achieve an expression for protection against the virus; the self-amplifying mRNA vaccine addresses this limitation. Therefore, a thorough examination of the most antigenic component of the Nipah virus was carried out to design the coding sequence of an antigen, which will provoke a virus-specific immune response. After that, we predicted and evaluated epitopes from NiV G-protein. We employed 8 HTL, 2 CTL and 3 B-cell epitopes. The study of structural compatibility was done by performing docking between HLA alleles and epitopes to get insights into the immune response of epitopes. The entire peptide coding sequence of an antigen was linked using a linker to design the structure of the vaccine. Physicochemical parameters of the designed vaccine constructs were assessed using a protparam server. Later, the vaccine sequence was converted into cDNA. We inserted a gene-expressing replicase at the start of a coding sequence for self-amplification. Next, to formulate the final version of vaccine signal sequences were added. Based on these findings, this mRNA vaccine appears to be a promising option against the Nipah virus.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Om Rangacharya
- MIT School of Bioengineering Sciences & Research, MIT Art, Design and Technology University, Pune, India
| | - Avanti Parab
- MIT School of Bioengineering Sciences & Research, MIT Art, Design and Technology University, Pune, India
| | - Shrikant Adkine
- MIT School of Bioengineering Sciences & Research, MIT Art, Design and Technology University, Pune, India
| | - Rahul Nagargoje
- MIT School of Bioengineering Sciences & Research, MIT Art, Design and Technology University, Pune, India
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Gemmati D, Longo G, Gallo I, Silva JA, Secchiero P, Zauli G, Hanau S, Passaro A, Pellegatti P, Pizzicotti S, Serino ML, Singh AV, Tisato V. Host genetics impact on SARS-CoV-2 vaccine-induced immunoglobulin levels and dynamics: The role of TP53, ABO, APOE, ACE2, HLA-A, and CRP genes. Front Genet 2022; 13:1028081. [PMID: 36531241 PMCID: PMC9748098 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.1028081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 08/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Development and worldwide availability of safe and effective vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) to fight severe symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and block the pandemic have been a great achievement and stimulated researchers on understanding the efficacy and duration of different vaccine types. Methods: We investigated the levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (IgG) and neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) in 195 healthy adult subjects belonging to the staff of the University-Hospital of Ferrara (Italy) starting from 15 days up to 190 days (about 6 months) after the second dose of the BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) mRNA-based vaccine (n = 128) or ChAdOx1 (AstraZeneca) adenovirus-based vaccine (n = 67) using a combined approach of serological and genomics investigations. Results: A strong correlation between IgG and NAb levels was detected during the 190 days of follow-up (r 2 = 0.807; p < 0.0001) and was confirmed during the first 90 days (T1) after vaccination (r 2 = 0.789; p = 0.0001) and 91-190 days (T2) after vaccination (r 2 = 0.764; p = 0.0001) for both vaccine types (r 2 = 0.842; p = 0.0001 and r 2 = 0.780; p = 0.0001 for mRNA- and adenovirus-based vaccine, respectively). In addition to age (p < 0.01), sex (p = 0.03), and type of vaccine (p < 0.0001), which partially accounted for the remarkable individual differences observed in the antibody levels and dynamics, interesting genetic determinants appeared as significant modifiers of both IgG and NAb responses among the selected genes investigated (TP53, rs1042522; APOE, rs7412/rs429358; ABO, rs657152; ACE2, rs2285666; HLA-A rs2571381/rs2499; CRP, rs2808635/rs876538; LZTFL1, rs35044562; OAS3, rs10735079; SLC6A20, rs11385942; CFH, rs1061170; and ACE1, ins/del, rs4646994). In detail, regression analysis and mean antibody level comparison yielded appreciable differences after genotype stratification (P1 and P2, respectively, for IgG and NAb distribution) in the whole cohort and/or in the mRNA-based vaccine in the following genes: TP53, rs1042522 (P1 = 0.03; P2 = 0.04); ABO, rs657152 (P1 = 0.01; P2 = 0.03); APOE, rs7412/rs429358 (P1 = 0.0018; P2 = 0.0002); ACE2, rs2285666 (P1 = 0.014; P2 = 0.009); HLA-A, rs2571381/rs2499 (P1 = 0.02; P2 = 0.03); and CRP, rs2808635/rs876538 (P1 = 0.01 and P2 = 0.09). Conclusion: High- or low-responsive subjects can be identified among healthy adult vaccinated subjects after targeted genetic screening. This suggests that favorable genetic backgrounds may support the progression of an effective vaccine-induced immune response, though no definite conclusions can be drawn on the real effectiveness ascribed to a specific vaccine or to the different extent of a genotype-driven humoral response. The interplay between data from the polygenic predictive markers and serological screening stratified by demogeographic information can help to recognize the individual humoral response, accounting for ethnic and geographical differences, in both COVID-19 and anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donato Gemmati
- Department of Translational Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
- Centre Haemostasis & Thrombosis, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
- University Centre for Gender Medicine Studies, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Giovanna Longo
- Department of Translational Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
- Centre Haemostasis & Thrombosis, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Ines Gallo
- Department of Translational Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
- Centre Haemostasis & Thrombosis, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Juliana Araujo Silva
- Department of Translational Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
- Centre Haemostasis & Thrombosis, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Paola Secchiero
- Department of Translational Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Giorgio Zauli
- Research Department, King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Stefania Hanau
- Department of Neuroscience & Rehabilitation, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Angelina Passaro
- Department of Translational Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | | | | | | | - Ajay Vikram Singh
- Department of Chemical & Product Safety, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Berlin, Germany
| | - Veronica Tisato
- Department of Translational Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
- University Centre for Gender Medicine Studies, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
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Kasman LM. Engineering the common cold to be a live-attenuated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Front Immunol 2022; 13:871463. [PMID: 36189239 PMCID: PMC9516391 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.871463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
According to the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people in all age groups catch two or more “colds” per year, at least half of which are caused by human rhinoviruses. Despite decades of effort, there are no vaccines or drugs against rhinovirus infections and even social distancing measures that were effective in reducing the spread of the pandemic coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, did not reduce the rate of rhinovirus detection. Fortunately, most rhinovirus strains are naturally attenuated in that they are not associated with serious illness, hospitalization or mortality. Instead, rhinoviruses are one of the most frequent viruses found in nasal swabs of asymptomatic, healthy people. Since rhinovirus infections cannot be avoided, a rational approach would be to engineer them for the benefit of their human hosts. Rhinovirus infections naturally induce robust mucosal and serum immune responses to all virus-expressed proteins. Several replication-competent, human rhinovirus vaccine vectors able to express protective antigens for other pathogens have already been designed and tested in animal models. With this strategy, the inevitable common cold would be able to induce immunity not just to a specific rhinovirus serotype but to other more pathogenic respiratory viruses as well. This article reviews existing rhinovirus vaccine vector technology and describes the characteristics that make live-attenuated rhinoviruses attractive vaccine candidates for SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogenic respiratory viruses in the future.
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