Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Counoupas, Claudio
• Johansen, Matt D
• Stella, Alberto O
• Nguyen, Duc H
• Ferguson, Angela L
• Aggarwal, Anupriya
• Bhattacharyya, Nayan D
• Grey, Alice
• Hutchings, Owen
• Patel, Karishma
• Siddiquee, Rezwan
• Stewart, Erica L
• Feng, Carl G
• Hansbro, Nicole G
• Palendira, Umaimainthan
• Steain, Megan C
• Saunders, Bernadette M
• Low, Jason K K
• Mackay, Joel P
• Kelleher, Anthony D
• Britton, Warwick J
• Turville, Stuart G
• Hansbro, Philip M
• Triccas, James A

Titel

A single dose, BCG-adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine provides sterilising immunity against SARS-CoV-2 infection

Ist Teil von

• npj vaccines, 2021-11, Vol.6 (1), p.143-10, Article 143

Ort / Verlag

England: Nature Publishing Group

Erscheinungsjahr

2021

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Global control of COVID-19 requires broadly accessible vaccines that are effective against SARS-CoV-2 variants. In this report, we exploit the immunostimulatory properties of bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), the existing tuberculosis vaccine, to deliver a vaccination regimen with potent SARS-CoV-2-specific protective immunity. Combination of BCG with a stabilised, trimeric form of SARS-CoV-2 spike antigen promoted rapid development of virus-specific IgG antibodies in the blood of vaccinated mice, that was further augmented by the addition of alum. This vaccine formulation, BCG:CoVac, induced high-titre SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibodies (NAbs) and Th1-biased cytokine release by vaccine-specific T cells, which correlated with the early emergence of T follicular helper cells in local lymph nodes and heightened levels of antigen-specific plasma B cells after vaccination. Vaccination of K18-hACE2 mice with a single dose of BCG:CoVac almost completely abrogated disease after SARS-CoV-2 challenge, with minimal inflammation and no detectable virus in the lungs of infected animals. Boosting BCG:CoVac-primed mice with a heterologous vaccine further increased SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody responses, which effectively neutralised B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. These findings demonstrate the potential for BCG-based vaccination to protect against major SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating globally.