A nucleoside-modified mRNA vaccine prevents enterovirus A71 infection in mouse model.

Introduction: Human Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) is the primary pathogen responsible for severe hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). Vaccination plays a crucial role in controlling its spread. Although inactivated vaccines have been approved, there is growing interest in developing new candidates using advanced platforms.

Robust mucosal SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells effectively combat COVID-19 and establish polyfunctional resident memory in patient lungs.

Mucosal antigen-specific T cells are pivotal for pathogen clearance and immune modulation in respiratory infections. Dysregulated T cell responses exacerbate coronavirus disease 2019 severity, marked by cytokine storms and respiratory failure. Despite extensive description in peripheral blood, the characteristics of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-specific T cells in the lungs remain elusive.

determination of protective antibody thresholds for SARS-CoV-2 variants using mouse models.

Neutralizing antibody titres have been shown to correlate with immune protection against COVID-19 and can be used to estimate vaccine effectiveness. Numerous studies have explored the relationship between neutralizing antibodies and protection. However, there remains a lack of quantitative data directly assessing the minimum effective protective neutralizing antibody titre in .

A 10 Year Long-Lived Cellular and Humoral MERS-CoV Immunity Cross-Recognizing the Wild-Type and Variants of SARS-CoV-2: A Potential One-Way MERS-CoV Cross-Protection Toward a Pan-Coronavirus Vaccine.

MERS is a respiratory disease caused by MERS-CoV. Multiple outbreaks have been reported, and the virus co-circulates with SARS-CoV-2. The long-term (> 6 years) cellular and humoral immune responses to MERS-CoV and their potential cross-reactivity to SARS-CoV-2 and its variants are unknown.

Defining the features and structure of neutralizing antibody targeting the silent face of the SARS-CoV-2 spike N-terminal domain.

Research on virus/receptor interactions has uncovered various mechanisms of antibody-mediated neutralization against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, understanding of neutralization by antibodies targeting the silent face, which recognize epitopes on glycan shields, remains limited, and their potential protective efficacy in vivo is not well understood. This study describes a silent face neutralizing antibody, 3711, which targets a non-supersite on the N-terminal domain (NTD) of the spike protein.

Antibody dynamics for heterologous boosters with aerosolized Ad5-nCoV following inactivated COVID-19 vaccines.

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored vaccination as a crucial strategy for reducing disease severity and preventing hospitalizations. Heterologous boosters using aerosolized Ad5-nCoV following two doses of inactivated vaccine have demonstrated superior antibody responses. However, the comprehensive dynamics of this antibody boost and the optimal timing for heterologous boosters are still not fully understood.

Single-cell analysis reveals T cell dysfunction driven by macrophages and differential expression of transposable elements in severe COVID-19 patients.

The vastly spreading COVID-19 pneumonia is caused by SARS-CoV-2. Lymphopenia and cytokine levels are tightly associated with disease severity. However, virus-induced immune dysregulation at cellular and molecular levels remains largely undefined.

Development of T follicular helper cell-independent nanoparticle vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 or HIV-1 by targeting ICOSL.

T helper cells, particularly T follicular helper (T) cells, are essential for the neutralizing antibody production elicited by pathogens or vaccines. However, in immunocompromised individuals, the inefficient support from T cells could lead to limited protection after vaccine inoculation. Here we showed that the conjugation of inducible T cell costimulatory (ICOS) onto the nanoparticle, together with immunogen, significantly enhanced the immune response of the vaccines specific for SARS-CoV-2 or human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) in T-deficient mice.

Individuals carrying the HLA-B*15 allele exhibit favorable responses to COVID-19 vaccines but are more susceptible to Omicron BA.5.2 and XBB.1.16 infection.

Background: Natural infection or vaccination have provided robust immune defense against SARS-CoV-2 invasion, nevertheless, Omicron variants still successfully cause breakthrough infection, and the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood.

Methods: Sequential blood samples were continuously collected at different time points from 252 volunteers who were received the CanSino Ad5-nCoV (n= 183) vaccine or the Sinovac CoronaVac inactivated vaccine (n= 69). The anti-SARS-CoV-2 prototype and Omicron BA.

Harnessing T-Cells for Enhanced Vaccine Development against Viral Infections.

Despite significant strides in vaccine research and the availability of vaccines for many infectious diseases, the threat posed by both known and emerging infectious diseases persists. Moreover, breakthrough infections following vaccination remain a concern. Therefore, the development of novel vaccines is imperative.

The receptor binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants targets Siglec-9 to decrease its immunogenicity by preventing macrophage phagocytosis.

The development of a vaccine specific to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Omicron has been hampered due to its low immunogenicity. Here, using reverse mutagenesis, we found that a phenylalanine-to-serine mutation at position 375 (F375S) in the spike protein of Omicron to revert it to the sequence found in Delta and other ancestral strains significantly enhanced the immunogenicity of Omicron vaccines. Sequence FAPFFAF at position 371-377 in Omicron spike had a potent inhibitory effect on macrophage uptake of receptor-binding domain (RBD) nanoparticles or spike-pseudovirus particles containing this sequence.

SARS-CoV-2 immunity in animal models.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which was caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has become a worldwide health crisis due to its transmissibility. SARS-CoV-2 infection results in severe respiratory illness and can lead to significant complications in affected individuals. These complications encompass symptoms such as coughing, respiratory distress, fever, infectious shock, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and even multiple-organ failure.

Identification of a broad sarbecovirus neutralizing antibody targeting a conserved epitope on the receptor-binding domain.

Omicron, as the emerging variant with enhanced vaccine tolerance, has sharply disrupted most therapeutic antibodies. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) belongs to the subgenus Sarbecovirus, members of which share high sequence similarity. Herein, we report one sarbecovirus antibody, 5817, which has broad-spectrum neutralization capacity against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) and SARS-CoV, as well as related bat and pangolin viruses.

Proteomic profiling of single extracellular vesicles reveals colocalization of SARS-CoV-2 with a CD81/integrin-rich EV subpopulation in sputum from COVID-19 severe patients.

Background: The global outbreak of COVID-19, and the limited availability of clinical treatments, forced researchers around the world to search for the pathogenesis and potential treatments. Understanding the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 is crucial to respond better to the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods: We collected sputum samples from 20 COVID-19 patients and healthy controls.

Repurposing CRISPR/Cas to Discover SARS-CoV-2 Detecting and Neutralizing Aptamers.

RNA aptamers provide useful biological probes and therapeutic agents. New methodologies to screen RNA aptamers will be valuable by complementing the traditional Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX). Meanwhile, repurposing clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR associated systems (Cas) has expanded their utility far beyond their native nuclease function.

Plasma cell-free DNA promise monitoring and tissue injury assessment of COVID-19.

Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is a complex disease that affects billions of people worldwide. Currently, effective etiological treatment of COVID-19 is still lacking; COVID-19 also causes damages to various organs that affects therapeutics and mortality of the patients. Surveillance of the treatment responses and organ injury assessment of COVID-19 patients are of high clinical value.

Successful clearance of persistent SARS-CoV-2 asymptomatic infection following a single dose of Ad5-nCoV vaccine.

Persistent asymptomatic (PA) SARS-CoV-2 infections have been identified. The immune responses in these patients are unclear, and the development of effective treatments for these patients is needed. Here, we report a cohort of 23 PA cases carrying viral RNA for up to 191 days.

Mouse models susceptible to HCoV-229E and HCoV-NL63 and cross protection from challenge with SARS-CoV-2.

Human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E) and NL63 (HCoV-NL63) are endemic causes of upper respiratory infections such as the "common cold" but may occasionally cause severe lower respiratory tract disease in the elderly and immunocompromised patients. There are no approved antiviral drugs or vaccines for these common cold coronaviruses (CCCoV). The recent emergence of COVID-19 and the possible cross-reactive antibody and T cell responses between these CCCoV and SARS-CoV-2 emphasize the need to develop experimental animal models for CCCoV.

mRNA based vaccines provide broad protection against different SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.

In order to overcome the pandemic of COVID-19, messenger RNA (mRNA)-based vaccine has been extensively researched as a rapid and versatile strategy. Herein, we described the immunogenicity of mRNA-based vaccines for Beta and the most recent Omicron variants. The homologous mRNA-Beta and mRNA-Omicron and heterologous Ad5-nCoV plus mRNA vaccine exhibited high-level cross-reactive neutralization for Beta, original, Delta, and Omicron variants.

Inactivated Rabies Virus Vectored MERS-Coronavirus Vaccine Induces Protective Immunity in Mice, Camels, and Alpacas.

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an emergent coronavirus that has caused frequent zoonotic events through camel-to-human spillover. An effective camelid vaccination strategy is probably the best way to reduce human exposure risk. Here, we constructed and evaluated an inactivated rabies virus-vectored MERS-CoV vaccine in mice, camels, and alpacas.

Plasma cell-free RNA characteristics in COVID-19 patients.

The pathogenesis of COVID-19 is still elusive, which impedes disease progression prediction, differential diagnosis, and targeted therapy. Plasma cell-free RNAs (cfRNAs) carry unique information from human tissue and thus could point to resourceful solutions for pathogenesis and host-pathogen interactions. Here, we performed a comparative analysis of cfRNA profiles between COVID-19 patients and healthy donors using serial plasma.