Safe and effective two-in-one replicon-and-VLP minispike vaccine for COVID-19: Protection of mice after a single immunization.

ABSTRACT: Vaccines of outstanding efficiency, safety, and public acceptance are needed to halt the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Concerns include potential side effects caused by the antigen itself and safety of viral DNA and RNA delivery vectors. The large SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein is the main target of current COVID-19 vaccine candidates but can induce non-neutralizing antibodies, which might cause vaccination-induced complications or enhancement of COVID-19 disease. Besides, encoding of a functional S in replication-competent virus vector vaccines may result in the emergence of viruses with altered or expanded tropism. Here, we have developed a safe single round rhabdovirus replicon vaccine platform for enhanced presentation of the S receptor-binding domain (RBD). Structure-guided design was em

SUBMITTER: Hennrich AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8092985 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature