Plant-Expressed Receptor Binding Domain of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Elicits Humoral Immunity in Mice.

ABSTRACT: The current 15-month coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has accounted for 3.77 million deaths and enormous worldwide social and economic losses. A high volume of vaccine production is urgently required to eliminate COVID-19. Inexpensive and robust production platforms will improve the distribution of vaccines to resource-limited countries. Plant species offer such platforms, particularly through the production of recombinant proteins to serve as immunogens. To achieve this goal, here we expressed the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein in the glycoengineered-tobacco plant Nicotiana benthamiana to provide a candidate subunit vaccine. This recombinant RBD elicited humoral immunity in mice via induction of highly neutralizing antibodi

SUBMITTER: Maharjan PM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8472882 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature