Naslov
Immunization against SARS-CoV-2 using cytomegalovirus as a vaccine vector

Autori
Materljan Jelena, Šustić Marko, Cokarić Brdovčak Maja, Ružić Tina, Ravlić Sanda, Lang Balija Maja, Halassy Beata, Forčić Dubravko, Čičin-Šain Luka, Lisnić Berislav, Krmpotić Astrid, Jonjić Stipan

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
2021 Annual Meeting Of The Croatian Immunological Society - Abstract book / - , 2021, 22-22

Skup
Annual Meeting of the Croatian Immunological Society 2021

Mjesto i datum
Trogir, Hrvatska, 23.09.2021. - 25.09.2021

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Poster

Vrsta recenzije
Domaća recenzija

Ključne riječi
murine CMV, SARS-CoV-2, vaccine vectors, immunization

Sažetak
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of the current worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, with over 200 million people infected so far. To combat the pandemic, several vaccines that elicit successful protective immune response have been developed and approved. Two main types of these vaccines include messenger RNA (mRNA) based technology and viral vectors. Although these vaccines proved to be very efficient, the longevity of protective immune response is still undefined. Cytomegaloviruses (CMVs) are βherpesviruses with great potential to be used as viral vectors. CMVs establish latency from which periodic reactivation occurs, boosting the specific immune response to viral antigens. Their key characteristic is the induction of a large pool of functional antigen-specific CD8⁺ T cells, which accumulate over time. We have constructed several murine CMV (MCMV) vaccine vectors expressing S (spike) and M (membrane) proteins of the SARS-CoV-2. Immunization with these vectors led to outstanding CD8⁺ T cell response and the generation of neutralizing antiviral antibodies. Importantly, not only immunization via systemic route but also via intranasal application of vectors, resulted in induction of protective immune response accompanied with induction of tissue resident memory CD8⁺ T cells in the lungs. Overall, our results demonstrate that herpesviruses are promising vaccine vectors against SARS-CoV-2 due to their capacity to induce exceptional and long-lasting antibody and cellular immune response.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

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