1. BNT162b2 vaccine induces neutralizing antibodies and poly-specific T cells in humans
- Author
-
Sahin, Ugur, Muik, Alexander, Vogler, Isabel, Derhovanessian, Evelyna, Kranz, Lena M., Vormehr, Mathias, Quandt, Jasmin, Bidmon, Nicole, Ulges, Alexander, Baum, Alina, Pascal, Kristen E., Maurus, Daniel, Brachtendorf, Sebastian, Lorks, Verena, Sikorski, Julian, Koch, Peter, and Hilker, Rolf
- Subjects
T cells -- Health aspects ,Viral antibodies -- Health aspects ,Antibodies -- Health aspects ,Environmental issues ,Science and technology ,Zoology and wildlife conservation - Abstract
BNT162b2, a nucleoside-modified mRNA formulated in lipid nanoparticles that encodes the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein (S) stabilized in its prefusion conformation, has demonstrated 95% efficacy in preventing COVID-19.sup.1. Here we extend a previous phase-I/II trial report.sup.2 by presenting data on the immune response induced by BNT162b2 prime-boost vaccination from an additional phase-I/II trial in healthy adults (18-55 years old). BNT162b2 elicited strong antibody responses: at one week after the boost, SARS-CoV-2 serum geometric mean 50% neutralizing titres were up to 3.3-fold above those observed in samples from individuals who had recovered from COVID-19. Sera elicited by BNT162b2 neutralized 22 pseudoviruses bearing the S of different SARS-CoV-2 variants. Most participants had a strong response of IFN[gamma].sup.+ or IL-2.sup.+ CD8.sup.+ and CD4.sup.+ T helper type 1 cells, which was detectable throughout the full observation period of nine weeks following the boost. Using peptide-MHC multimer technology, we identified several BNT162b2-induced epitopes that were presented by frequent MHC alleles and conserved in mutant strains. One week after the boost, epitope-specific CD8.sup.+ T cells of the early-differentiated effector-memory phenotype comprised 0.02-2.92% of total circulating CD8.sup.+ T cells and were detectable (0.01-0.28%) eight weeks later. In summary, BNT162b2 elicits an adaptive humoral and poly-specific cellular immune response against epitopes that are conserved in a broad range of variants, at well-tolerated doses. In a phase-I/II trial in healthy adults, the BNT162b2 vaccine induces neutralizing antibodies and poly-specific T cells against SARS-CoV-2 epitopes that are conserved in a wide range of currently circulating variants., Author(s): Ugur Sahin [sup.1] [sup.2] , Alexander Muik [sup.1] , Isabel Vogler [sup.1] , Evelyna Derhovanessian [sup.1] , Lena M. Kranz [sup.1] , Mathias Vormehr [sup.1] , Jasmin Quandt [sup.1] [...]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF