tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Front Immunol
. 2023 May 19;14:1201136.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1201136. eCollection 2023. Enhancing immune protection against MERS-CoV: the synergistic effect of proteolytic cleavage sites and the fusion peptide and RBD domain targeting VLP immunization
Jeein Oh[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Uni Park[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Juhyung Kim[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Kyeongseok Jeon[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Chulwoo Kim[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Nam-Hyuk Cho[SUP] 1 2 4 [/SUP], Youn Soo Choi[SUP] 1 5 6 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Introduction: The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a zoonotic infectious virus that has caused significant outbreaks in the Middle East and beyond. Due to a highly mortality rate, easy transmission, and rapid spread of the MERS-CoV, it remains as a significant public health treat. There is currently no licensed vaccine available to protect against MERS-CoV.
Methods: In this study, we investigated whether the proteolytic cleavage sites and fusion peptide domain of the MERS-CoV spike (S) protein could be a vaccine target to elicit the MERS-CoV S protein-specific antibody responses and confer immune protection against MERS-CoV infection. Our results demonstrate that immunization of the proteolytic cleavage sites and the fusion peptide domain using virus-like particle (VLP) induced the MERS-CoV S protein-specific IgG antibodies with capacity to neutralize pseudotyped MERS-CoV infection in vitro. Moreover, proteolytic cleavage sites and the fusion peptide VLP immunization showed a synergistic effect on the immune protection against MERS-CoV infection elicited by immunization with VLP expressing the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the S protein. Additionally, immune evasion of MERS-CoV RBD variants from anti-RBD sera was significantly controlled by anti-proteolytic cleavage sites and the fusion peptide sera.
Conclusion and discussion: Our study demonstrates the potential of VLP immunization targeting the proteolytic cleavage sites and the fusion peptide and RBD domains of the MERS-CoV S protein for the development of effective treatments and vaccines against MERS-CoV and related variants.
Keywords: MERS-CoV; PSFP; RBD; immune protection; spike specific IgG; virus-like particle (VLP) immunization.
. 2023 May 19;14:1201136.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1201136. eCollection 2023. Enhancing immune protection against MERS-CoV: the synergistic effect of proteolytic cleavage sites and the fusion peptide and RBD domain targeting VLP immunization
Jeein Oh[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Uni Park[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Juhyung Kim[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Kyeongseok Jeon[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Chulwoo Kim[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Nam-Hyuk Cho[SUP] 1 2 4 [/SUP], Youn Soo Choi[SUP] 1 5 6 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 37275866
- PMCID: PMC10235442
- DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1201136
Introduction: The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a zoonotic infectious virus that has caused significant outbreaks in the Middle East and beyond. Due to a highly mortality rate, easy transmission, and rapid spread of the MERS-CoV, it remains as a significant public health treat. There is currently no licensed vaccine available to protect against MERS-CoV.
Methods: In this study, we investigated whether the proteolytic cleavage sites and fusion peptide domain of the MERS-CoV spike (S) protein could be a vaccine target to elicit the MERS-CoV S protein-specific antibody responses and confer immune protection against MERS-CoV infection. Our results demonstrate that immunization of the proteolytic cleavage sites and the fusion peptide domain using virus-like particle (VLP) induced the MERS-CoV S protein-specific IgG antibodies with capacity to neutralize pseudotyped MERS-CoV infection in vitro. Moreover, proteolytic cleavage sites and the fusion peptide VLP immunization showed a synergistic effect on the immune protection against MERS-CoV infection elicited by immunization with VLP expressing the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the S protein. Additionally, immune evasion of MERS-CoV RBD variants from anti-RBD sera was significantly controlled by anti-proteolytic cleavage sites and the fusion peptide sera.
Conclusion and discussion: Our study demonstrates the potential of VLP immunization targeting the proteolytic cleavage sites and the fusion peptide and RBD domains of the MERS-CoV S protein for the development of effective treatments and vaccines against MERS-CoV and related variants.
Keywords: MERS-CoV; PSFP; RBD; immune protection; spike specific IgG; virus-like particle (VLP) immunization.