SARS-CoV-2 virus lacking the envelope and membrane open-reading frames as a vaccine platform
Abstract To address the need for broadly protective SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, we developed an attenuated a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine virus that lacks the open reading frames of two viral structural proteins: the envelope (E) and membrane (M) proteins. This vaccine virus (ΔEM) replicates in a cell line stably ex...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59533-4 |
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| Summary: | Abstract To address the need for broadly protective SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, we developed an attenuated a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine virus that lacks the open reading frames of two viral structural proteins: the envelope (E) and membrane (M) proteins. This vaccine virus (ΔEM) replicates in a cell line stably expressing E and M but not in wild-type cells. Vaccination with ΔEM elicits a CD8 T-cell response against the viral spike and nucleocapsid proteins. Two vaccinations with ΔEM provide better protection of the lower respiratory tissues than a single dose against the Delta and Omicron XBB variants in hamsters. Moreover, ΔEM is effective as a booster in hamsters previously vaccinated with an mRNA-based vaccine, providing higher levels of protection in both respiratory tissues compared to the mRNA vaccine booster. Collectively, our data demonstrate the feasibility of a SARS-CoV-2 ΔEM vaccine candidate virus as a vaccine platform. |
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| ISSN: | 2041-1723 |