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Walls AC, Fiala B, Schäfer A, Wrenn S, Pham MN, Murphy M, Tse LV, Shehata L, O’Connor MA, Chen C, Navarro MJ, Miranda MC, Pettie D, Ravichandran R, Kraft JC, Ogohara C, Palser A, Chalk S, Lee EC, Kepl E, Chow CM, Sydeman C, Hodge EA, Brown B, Fuller JT, Dinnon KH, Gralinski LE, Leist SR, Gully KL, Lewis TB, Guttman M, Chu HY, Lee KK, Fuller DH, Baric RS, Kellam P, Carter L, Pepper M, Sheahan TP, Veesler D, King NP. Elicitation of potent neutralizing antibody responses by designed protein nanoparticle vaccines for SARS-CoV-2. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2020:2020.08.11.247395. [PMID: 32817941 PMCID: PMC7430571 DOI: 10.1101/2020.08.11.247395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
A safe, effective, and scalable vaccine is urgently needed to halt the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Here, we describe the structure-based design of self-assembling protein nanoparticle immunogens that elicit potent and protective antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 in mice. The nanoparticle vaccines display 60 copies of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein receptor-binding domain (RBD) in a highly immunogenic array and induce neutralizing antibody titers roughly ten-fold higher than the prefusion-stabilized S ectodomain trimer despite a more than five-fold lower dose. Antibodies elicited by the nanoparticle immunogens target multiple distinct epitopes on the RBD, suggesting that they may not be easily susceptible to escape mutations, and exhibit a significantly lower binding:neutralizing ratio than convalescent human sera, which may minimize the risk of vaccine-associated enhanced respiratory disease. The high yield and stability of the protein components and assembled nanoparticles, especially compared to the SARS-CoV-2 prefusion-stabilized S trimer, suggest that manufacture of the nanoparticle vaccines will be highly scalable. These results highlight the utility of robust antigen display platforms for inducing potent neutralizing antibody responses and have launched cGMP manufacturing efforts to advance the lead RBD nanoparticle vaccine into the clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra C. Walls
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Brooke Fiala
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Alexandra Schäfer
- Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
| | - Samuel Wrenn
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Minh N. Pham
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Michael Murphy
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Longping V. Tse
- Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
| | - Laila Shehata
- Department of Immunology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Megan A. O’Connor
- Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
- Washington National Primate Research Center, Seattle, WA 98121, USA
| | - Chengbo Chen
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Biological Physics Structure and Design Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 91895, USA
| | - Mary Jane Navarro
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Marcos C. Miranda
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Deleah Pettie
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Rashmi Ravichandran
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - John C. Kraft
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Cassandra Ogohara
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Anne Palser
- Kymab Ltd, Babraham Research Campus, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Sara Chalk
- Kymab Ltd, Babraham Research Campus, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - E-Chiang Lee
- Kymab Ltd, Babraham Research Campus, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Elizabeth Kepl
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Cameron M. Chow
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Claire Sydeman
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Edgar A. Hodge
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Brieann Brown
- Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
- Washington National Primate Research Center, Seattle, WA 98121, USA
| | - Jim T. Fuller
- Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Kenneth H. Dinnon
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
| | - Lisa E. Gralinski
- Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
| | - Sarah R. Leist
- Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
| | - Kendra L. Gully
- Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
| | - Thomas B. Lewis
- Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
- Washington National Primate Research Center, Seattle, WA 98121, USA
| | - Miklos Guttman
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Helen Y. Chu
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Kelly K. Lee
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Biological Physics Structure and Design Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 91895, USA
| | - Deborah H. Fuller
- Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
- Washington National Primate Research Center, Seattle, WA 98121, USA
- Center for Innate Immunity and Immune Disease, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Ralph S. Baric
- Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
| | - Paul Kellam
- Kymab Ltd, Babraham Research Campus, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Department of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
| | - Lauren Carter
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Marion Pepper
- Department of Immunology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Timothy P. Sheahan
- Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
| | - David Veesler
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Neil P. King
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
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