An effective, safe and cost-effective cell-based chimeric vaccine against SARS-CoV2

Cheng, z.; Zhang, D.; Liu, X.; Miao, J.; wang, J.; Guo, H.; Yan, W.; Zhang, Z.; Lu, S.; Zhang, N.; Wang, J.; Liu, W.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, L.; Dong, J.; Lemoine, N. R.; Wang, Y.

doi:10.1101/2020.08.19.258244

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2020.08.19.258244

An effective, safe and cost-effective cell-based chimeric vaccine against SARS-CoV2

Cheng, z.·Zhang, D.·Liu, X.·Miao, J.·wang, J.·Guo, H.·Yan, W.·Zhang, Z.·Lu, S.·Zhang, N.·Wang, J.·Liu, W.·Zhang, Y.·Zhang, L.·Dong, J.·Lemoine, N. R.·Wang, Y.

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Abstract

More than one hundred vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 have been developed and some of them have entered clinical trials, but the latest results revealed that these vaccines still face great challenges. Here, we developed a novel cell-based gp96-Ig-secreting chimeric vaccine which is composed of two viral antigens, the RBD of spike protein, and a truncated nucleocapsid protein that could induce epitope-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes but low antibody response. Syrian hamsters immunized with the cell-based vaccine produced high level of SARS-CoV-2 specific NAbs and specific T cell immunity which could eliminate RBD-truncated N-expressing cells, without the induction of antibody against N protein and other observed toxicity. This study provides a proof of concept for clinical testing of this safe, effective and cost-effective vaccine against SARS-CoV2 infection.

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Cheng, z., Zhang, D., Liu, X., Miao, J., wang, J., Guo, H., Yan, W., Zhang, Z., Lu, S., Zhang, N., Wang, J., Liu, W., Zhang, Y., Zhang, L., Dong, J., Lemoine, N. R., Wang, Y.. 2020-08-20. An effective, safe and cost-effective cell-based chimeric vaccine against SARS-CoV2. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.19.258244

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