1. Cationic crosslinked carbon dots-adjuvanted intranasal vaccine induces protective immunity against Omicron-included SARS-CoV-2 variants.
- Author
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Lei, Hong, Alu, Aqu, Yang, Jingyun, He, Xi, He, Cai, Ren, Wenyan, Chen, Zimin, Hong, Weiqi, Chen, Li, He, Xuemei, Yang, Li, Li, Jiong, Wang, Zhenling, Wang, Wei, Wei, Yuquan, Lu, Shuaiyao, Lu, Guangwen, Song, Xiangrong, and Wei, Xiawei
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SARS-CoV-2 ,VIRAL antibodies ,SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant ,IMMUNITY ,IMMUNOGLOBULINS ,EPITHELIAL cells ,T cells ,VACCINES - Abstract
Mucosal immunity plays a significant role in the first-line defense against viruses transmitted and infected through the respiratory system, such as SARS-CoV-2. However, the lack of effective and safe adjuvants currently limits the development of COVID-19 mucosal vaccines. In the current study, we prepare an intranasal vaccine containing cationic crosslinked carbon dots (CCD) and a SARS-CoV-2 antigen, RBD-HR with spontaneous antigen particlization. Intranasal immunization with CCD/RBD-HR induces high levels of antibodies with broad-spectrum neutralization against authentic viruses/pseudoviruses of Omicron-included variants and protects immunized female BALB/c mice from Omicron infection. Despite strong systemic cellular immune response stimulation, the intranasal CCD/RBD-HR vaccine also induces potent mucosal immunity as determined by the generation of tissue-resident T cells in the lungs and airway. Moreover, CCD/RBD-HR not only activates professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs), dendritic cells, but also effectively targets nasal epithelial cells, promotes antigen binding via sialic acid, and surprisingly provokes the antigen-presenting of nasal epithelial cells. We demonstrate that CCD is a promising intranasal vaccine adjuvant for provoking strong mucosal immunity and might be a candidate adjuvant for intranasal vaccine development for many types of infectious diseases, including COVID-19. Lei et al. show that intranasal immunisation with their vaccine candidate is able to broadly protect mice from SARS-CoV-2 infection, including Omicron variants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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