Development of an RBD-Fc fusion vaccine for COVID-19
Yisheng Sun,
Qiaomin Li,
Yuanyuan Luo,
Hanping Zhu,
Fang Xu,
Hangjing Lu,
Pingping Yao,
Zhen Wang,
Wenbin Zhao,
Zhan Zhou
Affiliations
Yisheng Sun
Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; Key Lab of Vaccine, Prevention and Control of Infectious Disease of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310015, China
Qiaomin Li
Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Yuanyuan Luo
Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Hanping Zhu
Key Lab of Vaccine, Prevention and Control of Infectious Disease of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310015, China
Fang Xu
Key Lab of Vaccine, Prevention and Control of Infectious Disease of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310015, China
Hangjing Lu
Key Lab of Vaccine, Prevention and Control of Infectious Disease of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310015, China
Pingping Yao
Key Lab of Vaccine, Prevention and Control of Infectious Disease of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310015, China
Zhen Wang
Key Lab of Vaccine, Prevention and Control of Infectious Disease of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310015, China; Corresponding authors at: Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China (Z. Zhou).
Wenbin Zhao
Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; Corresponding authors at: Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China (Z. Zhou).
Zhan Zhou
Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; The Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Yiwu, 322000, China; Corresponding authors at: Innovation Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Anti-Cancer Drug Research, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China (Z. Zhou).
Although the global pandemic of SARS-CoV-2 has passed, there are still regional outbreaks that continue to jeopardize human health. Hence, there is still a great deal of interest in developing an efficient vaccine that can quickly and effectively prevent reemerging outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2. Delta variant was once a dominant strain in the world in 2021, and we first constructed a recombinant RBDdelta-Fc fusion vaccine by coupling the RBD of Delta variant with the human Fc fragment. This Fc fusion strategy increases the immunogenicity of the recombinant RBD vaccine, with a long-lasting high level of IgG antibodies and neutralizing antibodies induced by RBDdelta-Fc vaccine. This RBDdelta-Fc vaccine, as well as the RBD-Fc vaccine prepared in our previously study, could trigger a durable immune effect by the heterologous boosting immunity, and the RBD-Fc induced a quicker humoral immune response than the homologous immunization with inactivated vaccines. In conclusion, the Fc fusion strategy has a significant role in enhancing the immunogenicity of recombinant protein vaccines, thus promising the development of a safe and efficient vaccine for the heterologous boosting against SARS-CoV-2.
