SARS-CoV-2 ferritin nanoparticle vaccine induces robust innate immune activity driving polyfunctional spike-specific T cell responses
Abstract
The emergence of variants of concern, some with reduced susceptibility to COVID-19 vaccines underscores consideration for the understanding of vaccine design that optimizes induction of effective cellular and humoral immune responses. We assessed a SARS-CoV-2 spike-ferritin nanoparticle (SpFN) immunogen paired with two distinct adjuvants, Alhydrogel® or Army Liposome Formulation containing QS-21 (ALFQ) for unique vaccine evoked immune signatures. Recruitment of highly activated multifaceted antigen-presenting cells to the lymph nodes of SpFN+ALFQ vaccinated mice was associated with an increased frequency of polyfunctional spike-specific memory CD4+ T cells and Kb spike-(539–546)-specific long-lived memory CD8+ T cells with effective cytolytic function and distribution to the lungs. The presence of this epitope in SARS-CoV, suggests that generation of cross-reactive T cells may be induced against other coronavirus strains. Our study reveals that a nanoparticle vaccine, combined with a potent adjuvant that effectively engages innate immune cells, enhances SARS-CoV-2-specific durable adaptive immune T cell responses.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Dec 13, 2021
- Source ID
- 10.1038/s41541-021-00414-4
Entities
People
- Alexander Anderson
- Allison M W Malloy
- Elaine B. Morrison
- Elke S Bergmann-Leitner
- Gary R Matyas
- Jeffrey R. Currier
- Jessica S. Bolton
- Joshua M. Carmen
- Kayvon Modjarrad
- M Gordon Joyce
- Mangala Rao
- Nelson Michael
- Rajeshwer S. Sankhala
- Shikha Shrivastava
- Wei‐Hung Chen
- William C Chang
- Zhongyan Lu
Organizations
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
- United States Department of Defense