Comparative Immunogenicity of the Recombinant Receptor-Binding Domain of Protein S SARS-CoV-2 Obtained in Prokaryotic and Mammalian Expression Systems
Iuliia A. Merkuleva,
Dmitry N. Shcherbakov,
Mariya B. Borgoyakova,
Daniil V. Shanshin,
Andrey P. Rudometov,
Larisa I. Karpenko,
Svetlana V. Belenkaya,
Anastasiya A. Isaeva,
Valentina S. Nesmeyanova,
Elena I. Kazachinskaia,
Ekaterina A. Volosnikova,
Tatiana I. Esina,
Anna V. Zaykovskaya,
Oleg V. Pyankov,
Sophia S. Borisevich,
Arseniya A. Shelemba,
Anton N. Chikaev,
Alexander A. Ilyichev
Affiliations
Iuliia A. Merkuleva
State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector”, Rospotrebnadzor, World-Class Genomic Research Center for Biological Safety and Technological Independence, Federal Scientific and Technical Program on the Development of Genetic Technologies, 630559 Novosibirsk, Russia
Dmitry N. Shcherbakov
State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector”, Rospotrebnadzor, World-Class Genomic Research Center for Biological Safety and Technological Independence, Federal Scientific and Technical Program on the Development of Genetic Technologies, 630559 Novosibirsk, Russia
Mariya B. Borgoyakova
State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector”, Rospotrebnadzor, World-Class Genomic Research Center for Biological Safety and Technological Independence, Federal Scientific and Technical Program on the Development of Genetic Technologies, 630559 Novosibirsk, Russia
Daniil V. Shanshin
State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector”, Rospotrebnadzor, World-Class Genomic Research Center for Biological Safety and Technological Independence, Federal Scientific and Technical Program on the Development of Genetic Technologies, 630559 Novosibirsk, Russia
Andrey P. Rudometov
State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector”, Rospotrebnadzor, World-Class Genomic Research Center for Biological Safety and Technological Independence, Federal Scientific and Technical Program on the Development of Genetic Technologies, 630559 Novosibirsk, Russia
Larisa I. Karpenko
State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector”, Rospotrebnadzor, World-Class Genomic Research Center for Biological Safety and Technological Independence, Federal Scientific and Technical Program on the Development of Genetic Technologies, 630559 Novosibirsk, Russia
Svetlana V. Belenkaya
State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector”, Rospotrebnadzor, World-Class Genomic Research Center for Biological Safety and Technological Independence, Federal Scientific and Technical Program on the Development of Genetic Technologies, 630559 Novosibirsk, Russia
Anastasiya A. Isaeva
State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector”, Rospotrebnadzor, World-Class Genomic Research Center for Biological Safety and Technological Independence, Federal Scientific and Technical Program on the Development of Genetic Technologies, 630559 Novosibirsk, Russia
Valentina S. Nesmeyanova
State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector”, Rospotrebnadzor, World-Class Genomic Research Center for Biological Safety and Technological Independence, Federal Scientific and Technical Program on the Development of Genetic Technologies, 630559 Novosibirsk, Russia
Elena I. Kazachinskaia
State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector”, Rospotrebnadzor, World-Class Genomic Research Center for Biological Safety and Technological Independence, Federal Scientific and Technical Program on the Development of Genetic Technologies, 630559 Novosibirsk, Russia
Ekaterina A. Volosnikova
State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector”, Rospotrebnadzor, World-Class Genomic Research Center for Biological Safety and Technological Independence, Federal Scientific and Technical Program on the Development of Genetic Technologies, 630559 Novosibirsk, Russia
Tatiana I. Esina
State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector”, Rospotrebnadzor, World-Class Genomic Research Center for Biological Safety and Technological Independence, Federal Scientific and Technical Program on the Development of Genetic Technologies, 630559 Novosibirsk, Russia
Anna V. Zaykovskaya
State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector”, Rospotrebnadzor, World-Class Genomic Research Center for Biological Safety and Technological Independence, Federal Scientific and Technical Program on the Development of Genetic Technologies, 630559 Novosibirsk, Russia
Oleg V. Pyankov
State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector”, Rospotrebnadzor, World-Class Genomic Research Center for Biological Safety and Technological Independence, Federal Scientific and Technical Program on the Development of Genetic Technologies, 630559 Novosibirsk, Russia
Sophia S. Borisevich
Laboratory of Chemical Physics, Ufa Institute of Chemistry, Ufa Federal Research Center, 450078 Ufa, Russia
Arseniya A. Shelemba
Federal Research Center of Fundamental and Translational Medicine, 630060 Novosibirsk, Russia
Anton N. Chikaev
Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
Alexander A. Ilyichev
State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector”, Rospotrebnadzor, World-Class Genomic Research Center for Biological Safety and Technological Independence, Federal Scientific and Technical Program on the Development of Genetic Technologies, 630559 Novosibirsk, Russia
The receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the protein S SARS-CoV-2 is considered to be one of the appealing targets for developing a vaccine against COVID-19. The choice of an expression system is essential when developing subunit vaccines, as it ensures the effective synthesis of the correctly folded target protein, and maintains its antigenic and immunogenic properties. Here, we describe the production of a recombinant RBD protein using prokaryotic (pRBD) and mammalian (mRBD) expression systems, and compare the immunogenicity of prokaryotic and mammalian-expressed RBD using a BALB/c mice model. An analysis of the sera from mice immunized with both variants of the protein revealed that the mRBD expressed in CHO cells provides a significantly stronger humoral immune response compared with the RBD expressed in E.coli cells. A specific antibody titer of sera from mice immunized with mRBD was ten-fold higher than the sera from the mice that received pRBD in ELISA, and about 100-fold higher in a neutralization test. The data obtained suggests that mRBD is capable of inducing neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.
