2区 · 医学
ArticleOA
作者: Liu, Philip ; Verma, Mohit ; Balint, Joseph ; Peykov, Victor ; Niazi, Kayvan ; Sanford, Daniel C ; Sieling, Peter ; Drew, Jeff ; Gabitzsch, Elizabeth ; Rabizadeh, Shahrooz ; Zakin, Lise ; Adisetiyo, Helty ; Morimoto, Brett ; Bacon, Andrew ; Bezawada, Ashish ; Shin, Annie ; Wong, Raymond ; Spilman, Patricia ; Safrit, Jeffrey T ; Bone, Pete ; Sender, Lennie ; Soon-Shiong, Patrick ; Garban, Hermes ; Dinkins, Kyle ; Rice, Adrian
We have developed a dual-antigen COVID-19 vaccine incorporating genes for a modified SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (S-Fusion) and the viral nucleocapsid (N) protein with an Enhanced T-cell Stimulation Domain (N-ETSD) to increase the potential for MHC class II responses. The vaccine antigens are delivered by a human adenovirus serotype 5 platform, hAd5 [E1-, E2b-, E3-], previously demonstrated to be effective in the presence of Ad immunity. Vaccination of rhesus macaques with the hAd5 S-Fusion + N-ETSD vaccine by subcutaneous prime injection followed by two oral boosts elicited neutralizing anti-S IgG and T helper cell 1-biased T-cell responses to both S and N that protected the upper and lower respiratory tracts from high titer (1 x 106 TCID50) SARS-CoV-2 challenge. Notably, viral replication was inhibited within 24 hours of challenge in both lung and nasal passages, becoming undetectable within 7 days post-challenge.