TY - JOUR
T1 - Two DNA vaccines protect against severe disease and pathology due to SARS-CoV-2 in Syrian hamsters
AU - Babuadze, George Giorgi
AU - Fausther-Bovendo, Hugues
AU - deLaVega, Marc Antoine
AU - Lillie, Brandon
AU - Naghibosadat, Maedeh
AU - Shahhosseini, Nariman
AU - Joyce, Michael A.
AU - Saffran, Holly A.
AU - Lorne Tyrrell, D.
AU - Falzarano, Darryl
AU - Senthilkumaran, Chandrika
AU - Christie-Holmes, Natasha
AU - Ahn, Steven
AU - Gray-Owen, Scott D.
AU - Banerjee, Arinjay
AU - Mubareka, Samira
AU - Mossman, Karen
AU - Dupont, Chanel
AU - Pedersen, Jannie
AU - Lafrance, Mark Alexandre
AU - Kobinger, Gary P.
AU - Kozak, Robert
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is an ongoing threat to global health, and wide-scale vaccination is an efficient method to reduce morbidity and mortality. We designed and evaluated two DNA plasmid vaccines, based on the pIDV-II system, expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike gene, with or without an immunogenic peptide, in mice, and in a Syrian hamster model of infection. Both vaccines demonstrated robust immunogenicity in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. Additionally, the shedding of infectious virus and the viral burden in the lungs was reduced in immunized hamsters. Moreover, high-titers of neutralizing antibodies with activity against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants were generated in immunized animals. Vaccination also protected animals from weight loss during infection. Additionally, both vaccines were effective at reducing both pulmonary and extrapulmonary pathology in vaccinated animals. These data show the potential of a DNA vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 and suggest further investigation in large animal and human studies could be pursued.
AB - The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is an ongoing threat to global health, and wide-scale vaccination is an efficient method to reduce morbidity and mortality. We designed and evaluated two DNA plasmid vaccines, based on the pIDV-II system, expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike gene, with or without an immunogenic peptide, in mice, and in a Syrian hamster model of infection. Both vaccines demonstrated robust immunogenicity in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. Additionally, the shedding of infectious virus and the viral burden in the lungs was reduced in immunized hamsters. Moreover, high-titers of neutralizing antibodies with activity against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants were generated in immunized animals. Vaccination also protected animals from weight loss during infection. Additionally, both vaccines were effective at reducing both pulmonary and extrapulmonary pathology in vaccinated animals. These data show the potential of a DNA vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 and suggest further investigation in large animal and human studies could be pursued.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41541-022-00461-5
DO - 10.1038/s41541-022-00461-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 35474311
AN - SCOPUS:85129273212
SN - 2059-0105
VL - 7
JO - npj Vaccines
JF - npj Vaccines
IS - 1
M1 - 49
ER -