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Chao CW, Sprouse KR, Miranda MC, Catanzaro NJ, Hubbard ML, Addetia A, Stewart C, Brown JT, Dosey A, Valdez A, Ravichandran R, Hendricks GG, Ahlrichs M, Dobbins C, Hand A, Treichel C, Willoughby I, Walls AC, McGuire AT, Leaf EM, Baric RS, Schäfer A, Veesler D, King NP. Protein nanoparticle vaccines induce potent neutralizing antibody responses against MERS-CoV. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.13.584735. [PMID: 38558973 PMCID: PMC10979991 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.13.584735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a zoonotic betacoronavirus that causes severe and often lethal respiratory illness in humans. The MERS-CoV spike (S) protein is the viral fusogen and the target of neutralizing antibodies, and has therefore been the focus of vaccine design efforts. Currently there are no licensed vaccines against MERS-CoV and only a few candidates have advanced to Phase I clinical trials. Here we developed MERS-CoV vaccines utilizing a computationally designed protein nanoparticle platform that has generated safe and immunogenic vaccines against various enveloped viruses, including a licensed vaccine for SARS-CoV-2. Two-component protein nanoparticles displaying MERS-CoV S-derived antigens induced robust neutralizing antibody responses and protected mice against challenge with mouse-adapted MERS-CoV. Electron microscopy polyclonal epitope mapping and serum competition assays revealed the specificities of the dominant antibody responses elicited by immunogens displaying the prefusion-stabilized S-2P trimer, receptor binding domain (RBD), or N-terminal domain (NTD). An RBD nanoparticle vaccine elicited antibodies targeting multiple non-overlapping epitopes in the RBD, whereas anti-NTD antibodies elicited by the S-2P- and NTD-based immunogens converged on a single antigenic site. Our findings demonstrate the potential of two-component nanoparticle vaccine candidates for MERS-CoV and suggest that this platform technology could be broadly applicable to betacoronavirus vaccine development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cara W Chao
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Graduate Program in Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Kaitlin R Sprouse
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Marcos C Miranda
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Nicholas J Catanzaro
- Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
| | - Miranda L Hubbard
- Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
| | - Amin Addetia
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Cameron Stewart
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Jack T Brown
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Annie Dosey
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Adian Valdez
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Rashmi Ravichandran
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Grace G Hendricks
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Maggie Ahlrichs
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Craig Dobbins
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Alexis Hand
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Catherine Treichel
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Isabelle Willoughby
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Alexandra C Walls
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Andrew T McGuire
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Elizabeth M Leaf
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Ralph S Baric
- Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
| | - Alexandra Schäfer
- 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
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Neil P King
- Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
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Rodon J, Te N, Segalés J, Vergara-Alert J, Bensaid A. Enhanced antiviral immunity and dampened inflammation in llama lymph nodes upon MERS-CoV sensing: bridging innate and adaptive cellular immune responses in camelid reservoirs. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1205080. [PMID: 37388723 PMCID: PMC10300347 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1205080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection can cause fatal pulmonary inflammatory disease in humans. Contrarily, camelids and bats are the main reservoir hosts, tolerant for MERS-CoV replication without suffering clinical disease. Here, we isolated cervical lymph node (LN) cells from MERS-CoV convalescent llamas and pulsed them with two different viral strains (clades B and C). Viral replication was not supported in LN, but a cellular immune response was mounted. Reminiscent Th1 responses (IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-12) were elicited upon MERS-CoV sensing, accompanied by a marked and transient peak of antiviral responses (type I IFNs, IFN-λ3, ISGs, PRRs and TFs). Importantly, expression of inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8) or inflammasome components (NLRP3, CASP1, PYCARD) was dampened. The role of IFN-λ3 to counterbalance inflammatory processes and bridge innate and adaptive immune responses in camelid species is discussed. Our findings shed light into key mechanisms on how reservoir species control MERS-CoV in the absence of clinical disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordi Rodon
- Unitat Mixta d’Investigació IRTA-UAB en Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Catalonia, Spain
- IRTA, Programa de Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Catalonia, Spain
| | - Nigeer Te
- Unitat Mixta d’Investigació IRTA-UAB en Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Catalonia, Spain
- IRTA, Programa de Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Catalonia, Spain
| | - Joaquim Segalés
- Unitat Mixta d’Investigació IRTA-UAB en Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Catalonia, Spain
- Departament de Sanitat i Anatomia Animals, Facultat de Veterinaria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Catalonia, Spain
| | - Júlia Vergara-Alert
- Unitat Mixta d’Investigació IRTA-UAB en Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Catalonia, Spain
- IRTA, Programa de Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Catalonia, Spain
| | - Albert Bensaid
- Unitat Mixta d’Investigació IRTA-UAB en Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Catalonia, Spain
- IRTA, Programa de Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Catalonia, Spain
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