Multivalent S2 subunit vaccines provide broad protection against Clade 1 sarbecoviruses in female mice

Abstract The continuing emergence of immune evasive SARS-CoV-2 variants and the previous SARS-CoV-1 outbreak collectively underscore the need for broadly protective sarbecovirus vaccines. Targeting the conserved S2 subunit of SARS-CoV-2 is a particularly promising approach to elicit broad protection...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Peter J. Halfmann, Raj S. Patel, Kathryn Loeffler, Atsuhiro Yasuhara, Lee-Ann Van De Velde, Jie E. Yang, Jordan Chervin, Chloe Troxell, Min Huang, Naiying Zheng, Elizabeth R. Wright, Paul G. Thomas, Patrick C. Wilson, Yoshihiro Kawaoka, Ravi S. Kane
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-01-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-55824-y
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract The continuing emergence of immune evasive SARS-CoV-2 variants and the previous SARS-CoV-1 outbreak collectively underscore the need for broadly protective sarbecovirus vaccines. Targeting the conserved S2 subunit of SARS-CoV-2 is a particularly promising approach to elicit broad protection. Here, we describe a nanoparticle vaccine displaying multiple copies of the SARS-CoV-1 S2 subunit. This vaccine alone, or as a cocktail with a SARS-CoV-2 S2 subunit vaccine, protects female transgenic K18-hACE2 mice from challenges with Omicron subvariant XBB as well as several sarbecoviruses identified as having pandemic potential including the bat sarbecovirus WIV1, BANAL-236, and a pangolin sarbecovirus. Challenge studies in female Fc-γ receptor knockout mice reveal that antibody-based cellular effector mechanisms play a role in protection elicited by these vaccines. These results demonstrate that our S2-based vaccines provide broad protection against clade 1 sarbecoviruses and offer insight into the mechanistic basis for protection.
ISSN:2041-1723