Pre-clinical Vaccine Development for Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases

National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The Virology Core has collaborated with other intramural NIAID labs to develop a MERS-CoV Spike protein subunit vaccine. A vaccine of adjuvanted MERS-CoV Spike protein subunit vaccine confers complete protection from MERS-CoV disease in alpaca and results in reduced and delayed viral shedding in the upper airways of dromedary camels. The data indicate that induction of robust neutralizing humoral immune responses by vaccination of nave animals reduces shedding that potentially could diminish the risk of zoonotic transmission. During the past years, we focused on isolation of monoclonal antibodies from SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and HKU-1 infected patients and vaccinated non-human primates. The monoclonal antibodies were analyzed for their binding and neutralization ability against different coronaviruses. This study successfully assessed some anti-coronavirus monoclonal antibodies with high potency and breath. Recently, We are further analyzing the isolated monoclonal antibodies ability to neutralize the circuiting SARS-CoV-2 since they are in the same virus family. Those monoclonal antibodies may have potential therapeutic application in fighting infection. In additional, those monoclonal antibodies can be used as a very useful tools to study the mechanism of neutralizing antibodies against the virus infection and facilitating the rational design for a more potent vaccine.