Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 118, Issue 38, Pages -Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2106845118
Keywords
protein vaccine; Pichia pastoris; SARS-CoV-2; manufacturability
Categories
Funding
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation [INV-002740, INV-006131, OPP1156262]
- National Cancer Institute (NCI) [P30-CA14051]
- Multidisciplinary AIDS Training Program [T32 AI007387]
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation [INV-006131, INV-002740] Funding Source: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
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Subunit vaccines based on recombinant proteins are crucial tools for controlling COVID-19 due to their low manufacturing cost, scalability, and proven safety and efficacy. Engineered RBD variants exhibit high manufacturability and immunogenicity, showing enhanced immune responses after a single dose and cross-reactivity to new variants of concern.
Global containment of COVID-19 still requires accessible and afford-able vaccines for low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Re-cently approved vaccines provide needed interventions, albeit at prices that may limit their global access. Subunit vaccines based on recombinant proteins are suited for large-volume microbial manufacturing to yield billions of doses annually, minimizing their manufacturing cost. These types of vaccines are well-established, proven interventions with multiple safe and efficacious commercial examples. Many vaccine candidates of this type for SARS-CoV-2 rely on sequences containing the receptor-binding domain (RBD), which mediates viral entry to cells via ACE2. Here we report an engineered sequence variant of RBD that exhibits high-yield manufacturability, high-affinity binding to ACE2, and enhanced immunogenicity after a single dose in mice compared to the Wuhan-Hu-1 variant used in current vaccines. Antibodies raised against the engineered protein exhibited heterotypic binding to the RBD from two recently reported SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (501Y.V1/V2). Presentation of the engineered RBD on a designed virus-like particle (VLP) also reduced weight loss in hamsters upon viral challenge.
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