The continuing evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants challenges the durability of existing spike (S)-based COVID-19 vaccines. We hypothesized that vaccines composed of both S and nucleocapsid (N) antigens would increase the durability of protection by strengthening and broadening cellular immunity compared with S-based vaccines. To test this, we examined the immunogenicity and efficacy of wild-type SARS-CoV-2 S- and N-based DNA vaccines administered individually or together to K18-hACE2 mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe upper airway is an important site of infection, but immune memory in the human upper airway is poorly understood, with implications for COVID-19 and many other human diseases. Here we demonstrate that nasal and nasopharyngeal swabs can be used to obtain insights into these challenging problems, and define distinct immune cell populations, including antigen-specific memory B cells and T cells, in two adjacent anatomical sites in the upper airway. Upper airway immune cell populations seemed stable over time in healthy adults undergoing monthly swabs for more than 1 year, and prominent tissue resident memory T (T) cell and B (B) cell populations were defined.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEbolavirus disease (EVD) is caused by multiple species of . Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against the virus glycoprotein (GP) are the only class of therapeutic approved for treatment of EVD caused by (EBOV). Therefore, mAbs targeting multiple species may represent the next generation of EVD therapeutics.
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