A replicon RNA vaccine can induce durable protective immunity from SARS-CoV-2 in nonhuman primates after neutralizing antibodies have waned.

The global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic prompted rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines. Although several vaccines have received emergency approval through various public health agencies, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic continues. Emergent variants of concern, waning immunity in the vaccinated, evidence that vaccine...

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Main Authors: Megan A O'Connor, David W Hawman, Kimberly Meade-White, Shanna Leventhal, Wenjun Song, Samantha Randall, Jacob Archer, Thomas B Lewis, Brieann Brown, Megan N Fredericks, Kaitlin R Sprouse, Hillary C Tunggal, Mara Maughan, Naoto Iwayama, Chul Ahrens, William Garrison, Solomon Wangari, Kathryn A Guerriero, Patrick Hanley, Jamie Lovaglio, Greg Saturday, David Veesler, Paul T Edlefsen, Amit P Khandhar, Heinz Feldmann, Deborah Heydenburg Fuller, Jesse H Erasmus
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2023-04-01
Series:PLoS Pathogens
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1011298&type=printable
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author Megan A O'Connor
David W Hawman
Kimberly Meade-White
Shanna Leventhal
Wenjun Song
Samantha Randall
Jacob Archer
Thomas B Lewis
Brieann Brown
Megan N Fredericks
Kaitlin R Sprouse
Hillary C Tunggal
Mara Maughan
Naoto Iwayama
Chul Ahrens
William Garrison
Solomon Wangari
Kathryn A Guerriero
Patrick Hanley
Jamie Lovaglio
Greg Saturday
David Veesler
Paul T Edlefsen
Amit P Khandhar
Heinz Feldmann
Deborah Heydenburg Fuller
Jesse H Erasmus
author_facet Megan A O'Connor
David W Hawman
Kimberly Meade-White
Shanna Leventhal
Wenjun Song
Samantha Randall
Jacob Archer
Thomas B Lewis
Brieann Brown
Megan N Fredericks
Kaitlin R Sprouse
Hillary C Tunggal
Mara Maughan
Naoto Iwayama
Chul Ahrens
William Garrison
Solomon Wangari
Kathryn A Guerriero
Patrick Hanley
Jamie Lovaglio
Greg Saturday
David Veesler
Paul T Edlefsen
Amit P Khandhar
Heinz Feldmann
Deborah Heydenburg Fuller
Jesse H Erasmus
author_sort Megan A O'Connor
collection DOAJ
description The global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic prompted rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines. Although several vaccines have received emergency approval through various public health agencies, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic continues. Emergent variants of concern, waning immunity in the vaccinated, evidence that vaccines may not prevent transmission and inequity in vaccine distribution have driven continued development of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 to address these public health needs. In this report, we evaluated a novel self-amplifying replicon RNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 in a pigtail macaque model of COVID-19 disease. We found that this vaccine elicited strong binding and neutralizing antibody responses against homologous virus. We also observed broad binding antibody against heterologous contemporary and ancestral strains, but neutralizing antibody responses were primarily targeted to the vaccine-homologous strain. While binding antibody responses were sustained, neutralizing antibody waned to undetectable levels in some animals after six months but were rapidly recalled and conferred protection from disease when the animals were challenged 7 months after vaccination as evident by reduced viral replication and pathology in the lower respiratory tract, reduced viral shedding in the nasal cavity and lower concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the lung. Cumulatively, our data demonstrate in pigtail macaques that a self-amplifying replicon RNA vaccine can elicit durable and protective immunity to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Furthermore, these data provide evidence that this vaccine can provide durable protective efficacy and reduce viral shedding even after neutralizing antibody responses have waned to undetectable levels.
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institution Kabale University
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spelling doaj-art-d4af23eb43be40bcaa467db922cd51212025-08-20T03:42:07ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Pathogens1553-73661553-73742023-04-01194e101129810.1371/journal.ppat.1011298A replicon RNA vaccine can induce durable protective immunity from SARS-CoV-2 in nonhuman primates after neutralizing antibodies have waned.Megan A O'ConnorDavid W HawmanKimberly Meade-WhiteShanna LeventhalWenjun SongSamantha RandallJacob ArcherThomas B LewisBrieann BrownMegan N FredericksKaitlin R SprouseHillary C TunggalMara MaughanNaoto IwayamaChul AhrensWilliam GarrisonSolomon WangariKathryn A GuerrieroPatrick HanleyJamie LovaglioGreg SaturdayDavid VeeslerPaul T EdlefsenAmit P KhandharHeinz FeldmannDeborah Heydenburg FullerJesse H ErasmusThe global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic prompted rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines. Although several vaccines have received emergency approval through various public health agencies, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic continues. Emergent variants of concern, waning immunity in the vaccinated, evidence that vaccines may not prevent transmission and inequity in vaccine distribution have driven continued development of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 to address these public health needs. In this report, we evaluated a novel self-amplifying replicon RNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 in a pigtail macaque model of COVID-19 disease. We found that this vaccine elicited strong binding and neutralizing antibody responses against homologous virus. We also observed broad binding antibody against heterologous contemporary and ancestral strains, but neutralizing antibody responses were primarily targeted to the vaccine-homologous strain. While binding antibody responses were sustained, neutralizing antibody waned to undetectable levels in some animals after six months but were rapidly recalled and conferred protection from disease when the animals were challenged 7 months after vaccination as evident by reduced viral replication and pathology in the lower respiratory tract, reduced viral shedding in the nasal cavity and lower concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the lung. Cumulatively, our data demonstrate in pigtail macaques that a self-amplifying replicon RNA vaccine can elicit durable and protective immunity to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Furthermore, these data provide evidence that this vaccine can provide durable protective efficacy and reduce viral shedding even after neutralizing antibody responses have waned to undetectable levels.https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1011298&type=printable
spellingShingle Megan A O'Connor
David W Hawman
Kimberly Meade-White
Shanna Leventhal
Wenjun Song
Samantha Randall
Jacob Archer
Thomas B Lewis
Brieann Brown
Megan N Fredericks
Kaitlin R Sprouse
Hillary C Tunggal
Mara Maughan
Naoto Iwayama
Chul Ahrens
William Garrison
Solomon Wangari
Kathryn A Guerriero
Patrick Hanley
Jamie Lovaglio
Greg Saturday
David Veesler
Paul T Edlefsen
Amit P Khandhar
Heinz Feldmann
Deborah Heydenburg Fuller
Jesse H Erasmus
A replicon RNA vaccine can induce durable protective immunity from SARS-CoV-2 in nonhuman primates after neutralizing antibodies have waned.
PLoS Pathogens
title A replicon RNA vaccine can induce durable protective immunity from SARS-CoV-2 in nonhuman primates after neutralizing antibodies have waned.
title_full A replicon RNA vaccine can induce durable protective immunity from SARS-CoV-2 in nonhuman primates after neutralizing antibodies have waned.
title_fullStr A replicon RNA vaccine can induce durable protective immunity from SARS-CoV-2 in nonhuman primates after neutralizing antibodies have waned.
title_full_unstemmed A replicon RNA vaccine can induce durable protective immunity from SARS-CoV-2 in nonhuman primates after neutralizing antibodies have waned.
title_short A replicon RNA vaccine can induce durable protective immunity from SARS-CoV-2 in nonhuman primates after neutralizing antibodies have waned.
title_sort replicon rna vaccine can induce durable protective immunity from sars cov 2 in nonhuman primates after neutralizing antibodies have waned
url https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1011298&type=printable
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