A vaccine targeting the RBD of the S protein of SARS-CoV-2 induces protective immunity.

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Yang J, Wang W, Chen Z, Lu S, Yang F, Bi Z, Bao L, Mo F, Li X, Huang Y, Hong W, Yang Y, Zhao Y, Ye F, Lin S, Deng W, Chen H, Lei H, Zhang Z, Luo M, Gao H, Zheng Y, Gong Y, Jiang X, Xu Y, Lv Q, Li D, Wang M, Li F, Wang S, Wang G, Yu P, Qu Y, Yang L, Deng H, Tong A, Li J, Wang Z, Yang J, Shen G, Zhao Z, Li Y, Luo J, Liu H, Yu W, Yang M, Xu J, Wang J, Li H, Wang H, Kuang D, Lin P, Hu Z, Guo W, Cheng W, He Y, Song X, Chen C, Xue Z, Yao S, Chen L, Ma X, Chen S, Gou M, Huang W, Wang Y, Fan C, Tian Z, Shi M, Wang FS, Dai L, Wu M, Li G, Wang G, Peng Y, Qian Z, Huang C, Lau JY, Yang Z, Wei Y, Cen X, Peng X, Qin C, Zhang K, Lu G, Wei X

A vaccine targeting the RBD of the S protein of SARS-CoV-2 induces protective immunity.

Nature. 2020 Oct;586(7830):572-577. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2599-8. Epub 2020 Jul 29.

PubMed ID
32726802 [ View in PubMed
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Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes a respiratory disease called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the spread of which has led to a pandemic. An effective preventive vaccine against this virus is urgently needed. As an essential step during infection, SARS-CoV-2 uses the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein to engage with the receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) on host cells(1,2). Here we show that a recombinant vaccine that comprises residues 319-545 of the RBD of the spike protein induces a potent functional antibody response in immunized mice, rabbits and non-human primates (Macaca mulatta) as early as 7 or 14 days after the injection of a single vaccine dose. The sera from the immunized animals blocked the binding of the RBD to ACE2, which is expressed on the cell surface, and neutralized infection with a SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus and live SARS-CoV-2 in vitro. Notably, vaccination also provided protection in non-human primates to an in vivo challenge with SARS-CoV-2. We found increased levels of RBD-specific antibodies in the sera of patients with COVID-19. We show that several immune pathways and CD4 T lymphocytes are involved in the induction of the vaccine antibody response. Our findings highlight the importance of the RBD domain in the design of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and provide a rationale for the development of a protective vaccine through the induction of antibodies against the RBD domain.

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