A trivalent protein-based pan-Betacoronavirus vaccine elicits cross-neutralizing antibodies against a panel of coronavirus pseudoviruses

Syamala Rani Thimmiraju; Rakesh Adhikari; JeAnna R Redd; Maria Jose Villar; Jungsoon Lee; Zhuyun Liu; Yi-Lin Chen; Suman Sharma; Amandeep Kaur; Nestor L Uzcategui; Shannon E Ronca; Wen-Hsiang Chen; Jason T Kimata; Bin Zhan; Ulrich Strych; Maria Elena Bottazzi; Peter J Hotez; Jeroen Pollet

doi:10.1038/s41541-024-00924-x

A trivalent protein-based pan-Betacoronavirus vaccine elicits cross-neutralizing antibodies against a panel of coronavirus pseudoviruses

NPJ Vaccines. 2024 Jul 22;9(1):132. doi: 10.1038/s41541-024-00924-x.

Authors

Syamala Rani Thimmiraju^{1

2}, Rakesh Adhikari^{1

2}, JeAnna R Redd^{1

2}, Maria Jose Villar^{1

2}, Jungsoon Lee^{1

2}, Zhuyun Liu^{1

2}, Yi-Lin Chen^{1

2}, Suman Sharma³, Amandeep Kaur^{1

2}, Nestor L Uzcategui^{1

2}, Shannon E Ronca^{1

2

3}, Wen-Hsiang Chen^{1

2}, Jason T Kimata³, Bin Zhan^{1

2}, Ulrich Strych^{1

2}, Maria Elena Bottazzi^{1

2

4

5}, Peter J Hotez^{1

2

4

5}, Jeroen Pollet^{6

7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
² Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
³ Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
⁴ Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, 76706, USA.
⁵ James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77005, USA.
⁶ Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, TX, 77030, USA. Jeroen.pollet@bcm.edu.
⁷ Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA. Jeroen.pollet@bcm.edu.
⁸ Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA. Jeroen.pollet@bcm.edu.

Abstract

The development of broad-spectrum coronavirus vaccines is essential to prepare for future respiratory virus pandemics. We demonstrated broad neutralization by a trivalent subunit vaccine, formulating the receptor-binding domains of SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2 XBB.1.5 with Alum and CpG55.2. Vaccinated mice produced cross-neutralizing antibodies against all three human Betacoronaviruses and others currently exclusive to bats, indicating the epitope preservation of the individual antigens during co-formulation and the potential for epitope broadening.