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Neutralizing antibody-independent immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in hamsters and hACE-2 transgenic mice immunized with a RBD/Nucleocapsid fusion protein

Castro, J.; Fumagalli, M.; Hojo-Souza, N.; Azevedo, P.; Salazar, N.; Rattis, B.; Ramos, S.; Faustino, L.; Almeida, G.; Oliveira, L.; Marcal, T.; Augusto, M.; Magalhaes, R. D. M.; Cassaro, B.; Burle, G.; Doro, D.; Kalil, J.; Durigon, E. L.; Salazar, A.; Caballero, O.; Machado, A.; da Silva, J.; da Fonseca, F.; Fernandes, A. P.; Teixeira, S.; Gazzinelli, R.

2021-09-16 immunology
10.1101/2021.09.16.460663 bioRxiv
Show abstract

The nucleocapsid (N) and the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the Spike (S) proteins elicit robust antibody and T cell responses either in vaccinated or COVID-19 convalescent individuals. We generated a chimeric protein that comprises the sequences of RBD from S and N antigens (SpiN). SpiN was highly immunogenic and elicited a strong IFN{gamma} response from T cells and high levels of antibodies to the inactivated virus, but no neutralizing antibodies. Importantly, hamsters and the human Angiotensin Convertase Enzyme-2-transgenic mice immunized with SpiN were highly resistant to challenge with the wild type SARS-CoV-2, as indicated by viral load, clinical outcome, lung inflammation and lethality. Thus, the N protein should be considered to induce T-cell-based immunity to improve SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, and eventually to circumvent the immune scape by variants.

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