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Peter AS, Hoffmann DS, Klier J, Lange CM, Moeller J, Most V, Wüst CK, Beining M, Gülesen S, Junker H, Brumme B, Schiffner T, Meiler J, Schoeder CT. Strategies of rational and structure-driven vaccine design for Arenaviruses. INFECTION, GENETICS AND EVOLUTION : JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY GENETICS IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES 2024; 123:105626. [PMID: 38908736 DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2024.105626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2024] [Revised: 04/16/2024] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/24/2024]
Abstract
The COVID-19 outbreak has highlighted the importance of pandemic preparedness for the prevention of future health crises. One virus family with high pandemic potential are Arenaviruses, which have been detected almost worldwide, particularly in Africa and the Americas. These viruses are highly understudied and many questions regarding their structure, replication and tropism remain unanswered, making the design of an efficacious and molecularly-defined vaccine challenging. We propose that structure-driven computational vaccine design will contribute to overcome these challenges. Computational methods for stabilization of viral glycoproteins or epitope focusing have made progress during the last decades and particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and have proven useful for rational vaccine design and the establishment of novel diagnostic tools. In this review, we summarize gaps in our understanding of Arenavirus molecular biology, highlight challenges in vaccine design and discuss how structure-driven and computationally informed strategies will aid in overcoming these obstacles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonia Sophia Peter
- Institute for Drug Discovery, Leipzig University, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Dieter S Hoffmann
- Institute for Drug Discovery, Leipzig University, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Johannes Klier
- Institute for Drug Discovery, Leipzig University, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Christina M Lange
- Institute for Drug Discovery, Leipzig University, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Johanna Moeller
- Institute for Drug Discovery, Leipzig University, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig, Germany; Center for Scalable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence ScaDS.AI, Dresden/Leipzig, Germany
| | - Victoria Most
- Institute for Drug Discovery, Leipzig University, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Christina K Wüst
- Institute for Drug Discovery, Leipzig University, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig, Germany; Molecular Medicine Studies, Faculty for Biology and Preclinical Medicine, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Max Beining
- Institute for Drug Discovery, Leipzig University, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig, Germany; SECAI, School of Embedded Composite Artificial Intelligence, Dresden/Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sevilay Gülesen
- Institute for Drug Discovery, Leipzig University, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Hannes Junker
- Institute for Drug Discovery, Leipzig University, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Birke Brumme
- Institute for Drug Discovery, Leipzig University, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Torben Schiffner
- Institute for Drug Discovery, Leipzig University, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig, Germany; The Scripps Research Institute, Department for Immunology and Microbiology, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Jens Meiler
- Institute for Drug Discovery, Leipzig University, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig, Germany; Center for Scalable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence ScaDS.AI, Dresden/Leipzig, Germany; Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States; Center for Structural Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Clara T Schoeder
- Institute for Drug Discovery, Leipzig University, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig, Germany; Center for Scalable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence ScaDS.AI, Dresden/Leipzig, Germany.
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2
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Hsieh HC, Chen CC, Chou PH, Liu WC, Wu SC. Induction of neutralizing antibodies and mucosal IgA through intranasal immunization with the receptor binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein fused with the type IIb E. coli heat-labile enterotoxin A subunit. Antiviral Res 2023; 220:105752. [PMID: 37949318 DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2023.105752] [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: 06/26/2023] [Revised: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 infections had led to the COVID-19 pandemic which has a significant impact on global public health and the economy. The spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 contains the receptor binding domain (RBD) which binds to human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor. Numerous RBD-based vaccines have been developed and recently focused on the induction of neutralizing antibodies against the immune evasive Omicron BQ.1.1 and XBB.1.5 subvariants. In this preclinical study, we reported the use of a direct fusion of the type IIb Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin A subunit with SARS CoV-2 RBD protein (RBD-LTA) as an intranasal vaccine candidate. The results showed that intranasal immunization with the RBD-LTA fusion protein in BALB/c mice elicited potent neutralizing antibodies against the Wuhan-Hu-1 and several SARS-CoV-2 variants as well as the production of IgA antibodies in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALFs). Furthermore, the heterologous RBD representing the same strains used in the bivalent mRNA vaccine were used as a second-dose RBD-LTA/RBD protein booster after bivalent mRNA vaccination. The results showed that the neutralizing antibody titers elicited by the intranasal bivalent RBD-LTA/RBD protein booster were similar to the intramuscular bivalent mRNA booster, but the RBD-specific IgA titers in sera and BALFs significantly increased. Overall, this preclinical study suggests that the RBD-LTA fusion protein could be a promising candidate as a mucosal booster COVID-19 vaccine.
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Affiliation(s)
- He-Chin Hsieh
- Institute of Biotechnology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, 30013, Taiwan.
| | - Chung-Chu Chen
- Department of Internal Medicine, MacKay Memorial Hospital, Hsinchu, 30071, Taiwan; Teaching Center of Natural Science, Minghsin University of Science and Technology, Hsinchu, 30401, Taiwan.
| | - Pin-Han Chou
- Institute of Biotechnology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, 30013, Taiwan.
| | - Wen-Chun Liu
- Biomedical Translation Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan.
| | - Suh-Chin Wu
- Institute of Biotechnology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, 30013, Taiwan; Department of Medical Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, 30013, Taiwan; Adimmune Corporation, Taichung, 42723, Taiwan.
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3
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Hulbert SW, Desai P, Jewett MC, DeLisa MP, Williams AJ. Glycovaccinology: The design and engineering of carbohydrate-based vaccine components. Biotechnol Adv 2023; 68:108234. [PMID: 37558188 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2023.108234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2023] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 08/05/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023]
Abstract
Vaccines remain one of the most important pillars in preventative medicine, providing protection against a wide array of diseases by inducing humoral and/or cellular immunity. Of the many possible candidate antigens for subunit vaccine development, carbohydrates are particularly appealing because of their ubiquitous presence on the surface of all living cells, viruses, and parasites as well as their known interactions with both innate and adaptive immune cells. Indeed, several licensed vaccines leverage bacterial cell-surface carbohydrates as antigens for inducing antigen-specific plasma cells secreting protective antibodies and the development of memory T and B cells. Carbohydrates have also garnered attention in other aspects of vaccine development, for example, as adjuvants that enhance the immune response by either activating innate immune responses or targeting specific immune cells. Additionally, carbohydrates can function as immunomodulators that dampen undesired humoral immune responses to entire protein antigens or specific, conserved regions on antigenic proteins. In this review, we highlight how the interplay between carbohydrates and the adaptive and innate arms of the immune response is guiding the development of glycans as vaccine components that act as antigens, adjuvants, and immunomodulators. We also discuss how advances in the field of synthetic glycobiology are enabling the design, engineering, and production of this new generation of carbohydrate-containing vaccine formulations with the potential to prevent infectious diseases, malignancies, and complex immune disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophia W Hulbert
- Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Primit Desai
- Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Michael C Jewett
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Matthew P DeLisa
- Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA; Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA; Cornell Institute of Biotechnology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
| | - Asher J Williams
- Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA; Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
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Dutta SK, Langenburg T. A Perspective on Current Flavivirus Vaccine Development: A Brief Review. Viruses 2023; 15:v15040860. [PMID: 37112840 PMCID: PMC10142581 DOI: 10.3390/v15040860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2022] [Revised: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 03/26/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The flavivirus genus contains several clinically important pathogens that account for tremendous global suffering. Primarily transmitted by mosquitos or ticks, these viruses can cause severe and potentially fatal diseases ranging from hemorrhagic fevers to encephalitis. The extensive global burden is predominantly caused by six flaviviruses: dengue, Zika, West Nile, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis and tick-borne encephalitis. Several vaccines have been developed, and many more are currently being tested in clinical trials. However, flavivirus vaccine development is still confronted with many shortcomings and challenges. With the use of the existing literature, we have studied these hurdles as well as the signs of progress made in flavivirus vaccinology in the context of future development strategies. Moreover, all current licensed and phase-trial flavivirus vaccines have been gathered and discussed based on their vaccine type. Furthermore, potentially relevant vaccine types without any candidates in clinical testing are explored in this review as well. Over the past decades, several modern vaccine types have expanded the field of vaccinology, potentially providing alternative solutions for flavivirus vaccines. These vaccine types offer different development strategies as opposed to traditional vaccines. The included vaccine types were live-attenuated, inactivated, subunit, VLPs, viral vector-based, epitope-based, DNA and mRNA vaccines. Each vaccine type offers different advantages, some more suitable for flaviviruses than others. Additional studies are needed to overcome the barriers currently faced by flavivirus vaccine development, but many potential solutions are currently being explored.
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Martina CE, Crowe JE, Meiler J. Glycan masking in vaccine design: Targets, immunogens and applications. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1126034. [PMID: 37033915 PMCID: PMC10076883 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1126034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2023] [Indexed: 04/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Glycan masking is a novel technique in reverse vaccinology in which sugar chains (glycans) are added on the surface of immunogen candidates to hide regions of low interest and thus focus the immune system on highly therapeutic epitopes. This shielding strategy is inspired by viruses such as influenza and HIV, which are able to escape the immune system by incorporating additional glycosylation and preventing the binding of therapeutic antibodies. Interestingly, the glycan masking technique is mainly used in vaccine design to fight the same viruses that naturally use glycans to evade the immune system. In this review we report the major successes obtained with the glycan masking technique in epitope-focused vaccine design. We focus on the choice of the target antigen, the strategy for immunogen design and the relevance of the carrier vector to induce a strong immune response. Moreover, we will elucidate the different applications that can be accomplished with glycan masking, such as shifting the immune response from hyper-variable epitopes to more conserved ones, focusing the response on known therapeutic epitopes, broadening the response to different viral strains/sub-types and altering the antigen immunogenicity to elicit higher or lower immune response, as desired.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina E. Martina
- Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Center for Structural Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - James E. Crowe
- Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Jens Meiler
- Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Center for Structural Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Institute for Drug Discovery, Leipzig University Medical School, Leipzig, Germany
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6
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Wang Y, Ling L, Zhang Z, Marin-Lopez A. Current Advances in Zika Vaccine Development. Vaccines (Basel) 2022; 10:vaccines10111816. [PMID: 36366325 PMCID: PMC9694033 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines10111816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2022] [Revised: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV), an emerging arthropod-borne flavivirus, was first isolated in Uganda in 1947 from monkeys and first detected in humans in Nigeria in 1952; it has been associated with a dramatic burden worldwide. Since then, interventions to reduce the burden of ZIKV infection have been mainly restricted to mosquito control, which in the end proved to be insufficient by itself. Hence, the situation prompted scientists to increase research on antivirals and vaccines against the virus. These efforts are still ongoing as the pathogenesis and immune evasion mechanisms of ZIKV have not yet been fully elucidated. Understanding the viral disease mechanism will provide a better landscape to develop prophylactic and therapeutic strategies against ZIKV. Currently, no specific vaccines or drugs have been approved for ZIKV. However, some are undergoing clinical trials. Notably, different platforms have been evaluated for the design of vaccines, including DNA, mRNA, viral vectors, virus-like particles (VLPs), inactivated virus, live attenuated virus, peptide and protein-based vaccines, passive immunizations by using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), and vaccines that target vector-derived antigens. These vaccines have been shown to induce specific humoral and cellular immune responses and reduce viremia and viral RNA titers, both in vitro and in vivo. This review provides a comprehensive summary of current advancements in the development of vaccines against Zika virus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuchen Wang
- Department of Inspection and Quarantine Technology Communication, Shanghai Customs College, Shanghai 201204, China
- Correspondence:
| | - Lin Ling
- Department of Inspection and Quarantine Technology Communication, Shanghai Customs College, Shanghai 201204, China
| | - Zilei Zhang
- Department of Inspection and Quarantine Technology Communication, Shanghai Customs College, Shanghai 201204, China
| | - Alejandro Marin-Lopez
- Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06420, USA
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Intranasal Immunization with Zika Virus Envelope Domain III-Flagellin Fusion Protein Elicits Systemic and Mucosal Immune Responses and Protection against Subcutaneous and Intravaginal Virus Challenges. Pharmaceutics 2022; 14:pharmaceutics14051014. [PMID: 35631599 PMCID: PMC9144594 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14051014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2022] [Revised: 05/04/2022] [Accepted: 05/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) infections in humans are mainly transmitted by the mosquito vectors, but human-to-human sexual transmission is also another important route. Developing a ZIKV mucosal vaccine that can elicit both systemic and mucosal immune responses is of particular interest. In this study, we constructed a recombinant ZIKV envelope DIII (ZDIII) protein genetically fused with Salmonella typhimurium flagellin (FliC-ZDIII) as a novel mucosal antigen for intranasal immunization. The results indicated that the FliC-ZDIII fusion proteins formulated with E. coli heat-labile enterotoxin B subunit (LTIIb-B5) adjuvant greatly increased the ZDIII-specific IgG, IgA, and neutralizing titers in sera, and the ZDIII-specific IgA titers in bronchoalveolar lavage and vaginal fluids. Protective immunity was further assessed by subcutaneous and intravaginal ZIKV challenges. The second-generation FliCΔD3-2ZDIII was shown to result in a reduced titer of anti-FliC IgG antibodies in sera and still retained the same levels of serum IgG, IgA, and neutralizing antibodies and mucosal IgA antibodies without compromising the vaccine antigenicity. Therefore, intranasal immunization with FliCΔD3-2ZDIII fusion proteins formulated with LTIIb-B5 adjuvant elicited the greatest protective immunity against subcutaneous and intravaginal ZIKV challenges. Our findings indicated that the combination of FliCΔD3-2ZDIII fusion proteins and LTIIb-B5 adjuvant for intranasal immunization can be used for developing ZIKV mucosal vaccines.
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Georgiev GI, Malonis RJ, Wirchnianski AS, Wessel AW, Jung HS, Cahill SM, Nyakatura EK, Vergnolle O, Dowd KA, Cowburn D, Pierson TC, Diamond MS, Lai JR. Resurfaced ZIKV EDIII nanoparticle immunogens elicit neutralizing and protective responses in vivo. Cell Chem Biol 2022; 29:811-823.e7. [PMID: 35231399 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2022.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2021] [Revised: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a flavivirus that can cause severe disease, but there are no approved treatments or vaccines. A complication for flavivirus vaccine development is the potential of immunogens to enhance infection via antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), a process mediated by poorly neutralizing and cross-reactive antibodies. Thus, there is a great need to develop immunogens that minimize the potential to elicit enhancing antibodies. Here we utilized structure-based protein engineering to develop "resurfaced" (rs) ZIKV immunogens based on E glycoprotein domain III (ZDIIIs), in which epitopes bound by variably neutralizing antibodies were masked by combinatorial mutagenesis. We identified one resurfaced ZDIII immunogen (rsZDIII-2.39) that elicited a protective but immune-focused response. Compared to wild type ZDIII, immunization with resurfaced rsZDIII-2.39 protein nanoparticles produced fewer numbers of ZIKV EDIII antigen-reactive B cells and elicited serum that had a lower magnitude of induced ADE against dengue virus serotype 1 (DENV1) Our findings enhance our understanding of the structural and functional determinants of antibody protection against ZIKV.
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Affiliation(s)
- George I Georgiev
- Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
| | - Ryan J Malonis
- Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
| | - Ariel S Wirchnianski
- Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
| | - Alex W Wessel
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Helen S Jung
- Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
| | - Sean M Cahill
- Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
| | - Elisabeth K Nyakatura
- Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
| | - Olivia Vergnolle
- Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
| | - Kimberly A Dowd
- Viral Pathogenesis Section, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - David Cowburn
- Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
| | - Theodore C Pierson
- Viral Pathogenesis Section, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Michael S Diamond
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Department of Molecular Microbiology, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Department of Pathology & Immunology, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Jonathan R Lai
- Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
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Lin WS, Chen IC, Chen HC, Lee YC, Wu SC. Glycan Masking of Epitopes in the NTD and RBD of the Spike Protein Elicits Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies Against SARS-CoV-2 Variants. Front Immunol 2021; 12:795741. [PMID: 34925381 PMCID: PMC8674692 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.795741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 11/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Glycan-masking the vaccine antigen by mutating the undesired antigenic sites with an additional N-linked glycosylation motif can refocus B-cell responses to desired epitopes, without affecting the antigen's overall-folded structure. This study examined the impact of glycan-masking mutants of the N-terminal domain (NTD) and receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2, and found that the antigenic design of the S protein increases the neutralizing antibody titers against the Wuhan-Hu-1 ancestral strain and the recently emerged SARS-CoV-2 variants Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), and Delta (B.1.617.2). Our results demonstrated that the use of glycan-masking Ad-S-R158N/Y160T in the NTD elicited a 2.8-fold, 6.5-fold, and 4.6-fold increase in the IC-50 NT titer against the Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351) and Delta (B.1.617.2) variants, respectively. Glycan-masking of Ad-S-D428N in the RBD resulted in a 3.0-fold and 2.0-fold increase in the IC-50 neutralization titer against the Alpha (B.1.1.7) and Beta (B.1.351) variants, respectively. The use of glycan-masking in Ad-S-R158N/Y160T and Ad-S-D428N antigen design may help develop universal COVID-19 vaccines against current and future emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei-Shuo Lin
- Institute of Biotechnology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - I-Chen Chen
- Institute of Biotechnology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Hui-Chen Chen
- Institute of Biotechnology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Chien Lee
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Fu Jen Catholic University Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Suh-Chin Wu
- Institute of Biotechnology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.,Department of Medical Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
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10
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Abstract
Antibody immunodominance refers to the preferential and asymmetric elicitation of antibodies against specific epitopes on a complex protein antigen. Traditional vaccination approaches for rapidly evolving pathogens have had limited success in part because of this phenomenon, as elicited antibodies preferentially target highly variable regions of antigens, and thus do not confer long lasting protection. While antibodies targeting functionally conserved epitopes have the potential to be broadly protective, they often make up a minority of the overall repertoire. Here, we discuss recent protein engineering strategies used to favorably alter patterns of immunodominance, and selectively focus antibody responses toward broadly protective epitopes in the pursuit of next-generation vaccines for rapidly evolving pathogens.
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Xu L, Ma Z, Li Y, Pang Z, Xiao S. Antibody dependent enhancement: Unavoidable problems in vaccine development. Adv Immunol 2021; 151:99-133. [PMID: 34656289 PMCID: PMC8438590 DOI: 10.1016/bs.ai.2021.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
In some cases, antibodies can enhance virus entry and replication in cells. This phenomenon is called antibody-dependent infection enhancement (ADE). ADE not only promotes the virus to be recognized by the target cell and enters the target cell, but also affects the signal transmission in the target cell. Early formalin-inactivated virus vaccines such as aluminum adjuvants (RSV and measles) have been shown to induce ADE. Although there is no direct evidence that there is ADE in COVID-19, this potential risk is a huge challenge for prevention and vaccine development. This article focuses on the virus-induced ADE phenomenon and its molecular mechanism. It also summarizes various attempts in vaccine research and development to eliminate the ADE phenomenon, and proposes to avoid ADE in vaccine development from the perspective of antigens and adjuvants.
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12
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Araujo SC, Pereira LR, Alves RPS, Andreata-Santos R, Kanno AI, Ferreira LCS, Gonçalves VM. Anti-Flavivirus Vaccines: Review of the Present Situation and Perspectives of Subunit Vaccines Produced in Escherichia coli. Vaccines (Basel) 2020; 8:vaccines8030492. [PMID: 32878023 PMCID: PMC7564369 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines8030492] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2020] [Revised: 08/22/2020] [Accepted: 08/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
This article aims to review the present status of anti-flavivirus subunit vaccines, both those at the experimental stage and those already available for clinical use. Aspects regarding development of vaccines to Yellow Fever virus, (YFV), Dengue virus (DENV), West Nile virus (WNV), Zika virus (ZIKV), and Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) are highlighted, with particular emphasis on purified recombinant proteins generated in bacterial cells. Currently licensed anti-flavivirus vaccines are based on inactivated, attenuated, or virus-vector vaccines. However, technological advances in the generation of recombinant antigens with preserved structural and immunological determinants reveal new possibilities for the development of recombinant protein-based vaccine formulations for clinical testing. Furthermore, novel proposals for multi-epitope vaccines and the discovery of new adjuvants and delivery systems that enhance and/or modulate immune responses can pave the way for the development of successful subunit vaccines. Nonetheless, advances in this field require high investments that will probably not raise interest from private pharmaceutical companies and, therefore, will require support by international philanthropic organizations and governments of the countries more severely stricken by these viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergio C. Araujo
- Laboratory of Vaccine Development, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo–SP 05503-900, Brazil; (S.C.A.); (A.I.K.)
| | - Lennon R. Pereira
- Laboratory of Vaccine Development, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo–SP 05508-000, Brazil; (L.R.P.); (R.P.S.A.); (R.A.-S.)
| | - Rubens P. S. Alves
- Laboratory of Vaccine Development, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo–SP 05508-000, Brazil; (L.R.P.); (R.P.S.A.); (R.A.-S.)
| | - Robert Andreata-Santos
- Laboratory of Vaccine Development, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo–SP 05508-000, Brazil; (L.R.P.); (R.P.S.A.); (R.A.-S.)
| | - Alex I. Kanno
- Laboratory of Vaccine Development, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo–SP 05503-900, Brazil; (S.C.A.); (A.I.K.)
| | - Luis Carlos S. Ferreira
- Laboratory of Vaccine Development, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo–SP 05508-000, Brazil; (L.R.P.); (R.P.S.A.); (R.A.-S.)
- Correspondence: (L.C.S.F.); (V.M.G.)
| | - Viviane M. Gonçalves
- Laboratory of Vaccine Development, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo–SP 05503-900, Brazil; (S.C.A.); (A.I.K.)
- Correspondence: (L.C.S.F.); (V.M.G.)
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13
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Characterization of a Species E Adenovirus Vector as a Zika virus vaccine. Sci Rep 2020; 10:3613. [PMID: 32107394 PMCID: PMC7046724 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-60238-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2019] [Accepted: 02/04/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The development of a safe and efficacious Zika virus (ZIKV) vaccine remains a global health priority. In our previous work, we developed an Adenovirus vectored ZIKV vaccine using a low-seroprevalent human Adenovirus type 4 (Ad4-prM-E) and compared it to an Ad5 vector (Ad5-prM-E). We found that vaccination with Ad4-prM-E leads to the development of a strong anti-ZIKV T-cell response without eliciting significant anti-ZIKV antibodies, while vaccination with Ad5-prM-E leads to the development of both anti-ZIKV antibody and T-cell responses in C57BL/6 mice. However, both vectors conferred protection against ZIKV infection in a lethal challenge model. Here we continued to characterize the T-cell biased immune response observed in Ad4 immunized mice. Vaccination of BALB/c mice resulted in immune correlates similar to C57BL/6 mice, confirming that this response is not mouse strain-specific. Vaccination with an Ad4 expressing an influenza hemagglutinin (HA) protein resulted in anti-HA T-cell responses without the development of significant anti-HA antibodies, indicating this unique response is specific to the Ad4 serotype rather than the transgene expressed. Co-administration of a UV inactivated Ad4 vector with the Ad5-prM-E vaccine led to a significant reduction in anti-ZIKV antibody development suggesting that this serotype-specific immune profile is capsid-dependent. These results highlight the serotype-specific immune profiles elicited by different Adenovirus vector types and emphasize the importance of continued characterization of these alternative Ad serotypes.
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