AUTHOR=Brandys Pascal , Montagutelli Xavier , Merenkova Irena , Barut Güliz T. , Thiel Volker , Schork Nicholas J. , Trüeb Bettina , Conquet Laurine , Deng Aihua , Antanasijevic Aleksandar , Lee Hyun-Ku , Valière Martine , Sindhu Anoop , Singh Gita , Herold Jens 

TITLE=A mRNA Vaccine Encoding for a RBD 60-mer Nanoparticle Elicits Neutralizing Antibodies and Protective Immunity Against the SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant in Transgenic K18-hACE2 Mice

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2022.912898

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2022.912898

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p>Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic there is still a need for vaccines to effectively control the spread of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants and associated cases of severe disease. Here we report a messenger RNA vaccine directly encoding for a nanoparticle displaying 60 receptor binding domains (RBDs) of SARS-CoV-2 that acts as a highly effective antigen. A construct encoding the RBD of the Delta variant elicits robust neutralizing antibody response, and also provides protective immunity against the Delta variant in a widely used transgenic mouse model. We ultimately find that the proposed mRNA RBD nanoparticle-based vaccine provides a flexible platform for rapid development and will likely be of great value in combatting current and future SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.</p>