T cell immunity ameliorates COVID-19 disease severity and provides post-exposure prophylaxis after peptide-vaccination, in Syrian hamsters.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The emergence of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants that resist neutralizing antibodies drew the attention to cellular immunity and calls for the development of alternative vaccination strategies to combat the pandemic. Here, we have assessed the kinetics of T cell responses and protective efficacy against severe COVID-19 in pre- and post-exposure settings, elicited by PolyPEPI-SCoV-2, a peptide based T cell vaccine.

Methods

75 Syrian hamsters were immunized subcutaneously with PolyPEPI-SCoV-2 on D0 and D14. On D42, hamsters were intranasally challenged with 10² TCID₅₀ of the virus. To analyze immunogenicity by IFN-γ ELISPOT and antibody secretion, lymphoid tissues were collected both before (D0, D14, D28, D42) and after challenge (D44, D46, D49). To

SUBMITTER: Somogyi E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9902696 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature