AUTHOR=Ohji Goh , Funakoshi Yohei , Yakushijin Kimikazu , Matsutani Takaji , Sasaki Tomoki , Kusakabe Takahiro , Matsumoto Sakuya , Koyama Taiji , Nagatani Yoshiaki , Kurata Keiji , Kimbara Shiro , Kiyota Naomi , Minami Hironobu TITLE=Analysis of B-cell receptor repertoire to evaluate the immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 RBD mRNA vaccine: MAFB-7256a (DS-5670d) JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology VOLUME=15 YEAR=2024 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2024.1468760 DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2024.1468760 ISSN=1664-3224 ABSTRACT=

A monovalent Omicron XBB.1.5 mRNA RBD analogue vaccine, MAFB-7256a (DS-5670d), was newly developed and approved in Japan in the Spring of 2024 for the prevention of COVID-19. However, clinical efficacy data for this vaccine are currently lacking. We previously established the Quantification of Antigen-specific Antibody Sequence (QASAS) method to assess the response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination at the mRNA level using B-cell receptor (BCR) repertoire assays and the Coronavirus Antibody Database (CoV-AbDab). Here, we used this method to evaluate the immunogenicity of MAFB-7256a. We analyzed repeated blood samples using the QASAS method from three healthy volunteers before and after MAFB-7256a vaccination. BCR response increased rapidly one week post-vaccination and then decreased, as with conventional vaccine. Notably, the matched sequences after MAFB-7256a vaccination specifically bound to the receptor-binding domain (RBD), with no sequences binding to other epitopes. These results validate that MAFB-7256a is an effective vaccine that exclusively induces antibodies specific for the RBD, demonstrating its targeted immunogenic effect.