Sequential Immunization with Vaccines Based on SARS-CoV-2 Virus-like Particles Induces Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies
Youjun Mi,
Kun Xu,
Wenting Wang,
Weize Kong,
Xiaonan Xu,
Xifeng Rong,
Jiying Tan
Affiliations
Youjun Mi
Department of Pathophysiology, School of BasicMedical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Kun Xu
Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Evidence Based Medicine and Clinical Translation & Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medicine Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Wenting Wang
State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730046, China
Weize Kong
State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730046, China
Xiaonan Xu
State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730046, China
Xifeng Rong
State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730046, China
Jiying Tan
State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730046, China
Although many people have been vaccinated against COVID-19, infections with SARS-CoV-2 seem hard to avoid. There is a need to develop more effective vaccines and immunization strategies against emerging variants of infectious diseases. To understand whether different immunization strategies using variants sequence-based virus-like particles (VLPs) vaccines could offer superior immunity against future SARS-CoV-2 variants, our team constructed VLPs for the original Wuhan-Hu-1 strain (prototype), Delta (δ) variant, and Omicron (ο) variant of SARS-CoV-2, using baculovirus-insect expression system. Then we used these VLPs to assess the immune responses induced by homologous prime-boost, heterologous prime-boost, and sequential immunizations strategies in a mouse model. Our results showed that the pro+δ+ο sequential strategies elicited better neutralizing antibody responses. These sequential strategies also take advantage of inducing CD4+ T and CD8+ T lymphocytes proliferation and tendency to cytokine of Th1. Currently, our data suggest that sequential immunization with VLPs of encoding spike protein derived from SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern may be a potential vaccine strategy against emerging diseases, such as “Disease X”.
