1. Evaluation of an RBD-nucleocapsid fusion protein as a booster candidate for COVID-19 vaccine
- Author
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Bruno Vinicius Santos Valiate, Julia Teixeira de Castro, Tomás Gazzinelli Marçal, Luis Adan Flores Andrade, Livia Isabela de Oliveira, Gabriela Barbi Freire Maia, Lídia Paula Faustino, Natalia S. Hojo-Souza, Marconi Augusto Aguiar Dos Reis, Flávia Fonseca Bagno, Natalia Salazar, Santuza R. Teixeira, Gregório Guilherme Almeida, and Ricardo Tostes Gazzinelli
- Subjects
Health sciences ,Public health ,Immunology ,Virology ,Science - Abstract
Summary: Despite successful vaccines and updates, constant mutations of SARS-CoV-2 makes necessary the search for new vaccines. We generated a chimeric protein that comprises the receptor-binding domain from spike and the nucleocapsid antigens (SpiN) from SARS-CoV-2. Once SpiN elicits a protective immune response in rodents, here we show that convalescent and previously vaccinated individuals respond to SpiN. CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from these individuals produced greater amounts of IFN−γ when stimulated with SpiN, compared to SARS-CoV-2 antigens. Also, B cells from these individuals were able to secrete antibodies that recognize SpiN. When administered as a boost dose in mice previously immunized with CoronaVac, ChAdOx1-S or BNT162b2, SpiN was able to induce a greater or equivalent immune response to homologous prime/boost. Our data reveal the ability of SpiN to induce cellular and humoral responses in vaccinated human donors, rendering it a promising candidate.
- Published
- 2024
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