Emerging Microbes and Infections (Jan 2021)
A novel linker-immunodominant site (LIS) vaccine targeting the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein protects against severe COVID-19 in Syrian hamsters
- Bao-Zhong Zhang,
- Xiaolei Wang,
- Shuofeng Yuan,
- Wenjun Li,
- Ying Dou,
- Vincent Kwok-Man Poon,
- Chris Chung-Sing Chan,
- Jian-Piao Cai,
- Kenn KaHeng Chik,
- Kaiming Tang,
- Chris Chun-Yiu Chan,
- Ye-Fan Hu,
- Jing-Chu Hu,
- Smaranda Ruxandra Badea,
- Hua-Rui Gong,
- Xuansheng Lin,
- Hin Chu,
- Xuechen Li,
- Kelvin Kai-Wang To,
- Li Liu,
- Zhiwei Chen,
- Ivan Fan-Ngai Hung,
- Kwok Yung Yuen,
- Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan,
- Jian-Dong Huang
Affiliations
- Bao-Zhong Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China
- Xiaolei Wang
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Shuofeng Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Wenjun Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China
- Ying Dou
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Vincent Kwok-Man Poon
- Department of Microbiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Chris Chung-Sing Chan
- Department of Microbiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Jian-Piao Cai
- Department of Microbiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Kenn KaHeng Chik
- Department of Microbiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Kaiming Tang
- Department of Microbiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Chris Chun-Yiu Chan
- Department of Microbiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Ye-Fan Hu
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Jing-Chu Hu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China
- Smaranda Ruxandra Badea
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Hua-Rui Gong
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Xuansheng Lin
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Hin Chu
- State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Xuechen Li
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People's Republic of China
- Kelvin Kai-Wang To
- State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Li Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Zhiwei Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Ivan Fan-Ngai Hung
- Department of Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Kwok Yung Yuen
- State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan
- State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, People’s Republic of China
- Jian-Dong Huang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2021.1921621
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 10,
no. 1
pp. 874 – 884
Abstract
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is unlikely to abate until sufficient herd immunity is built up by either natural infection or vaccination. We previously identified ten linear immunodominant sites on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein of which four are located within the RBD. Therefore, we designed two linkerimmunodominant site (LIS) vaccine candidates which are composed of four immunodominant sites within the RBD (RBD-ID) or all the 10 immunodominant sites within the whole spike (S-ID). They were administered by subcutaneous injection and were tested for immunogenicity and in vivo protective efficacy in a hamster model for COVID-19. We showed that the S-ID vaccine induced significantly better neutralizing antibody response than RBD-ID and alum control. As expected, hamsters vaccinated by S-ID had significantly less body weight loss, lung viral load, and histopathological changes of pneumonia. The S-ID has the potential to be an effective vaccine for protection against COVID-19.
Keywords
