Publications by authors named "Milja Belik"

The continuous evolution of SARS-CoV-2 has led to the emergence of several variants of concern (VOCs) that significantly affect global health. This study aims to investigate how these VOCs affect host cells at proteome level to better understand the mechanisms of disease. To achieve this, we first analyzed the (phospho)proteome changes of host cells infected with Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron BA.

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Background: Vaccinations against the SARS-CoV-2 are still crucial in combating the ongoing pandemic that has caused more than 700 million infections and claimed almost 7 million lives in the past four years. Omicron (B.1.

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Introduction: The prime-boost COVID-19 mRNA vaccination strategy has proven to be effective against severe COVID-19 disease and death. However, concerns have been raised due to decreasing neutralizing antibody levels after COVID-19 vaccination and due to the emergence of new immuno-evasive SARS-CoV-2 variants that may require additional booster vaccinations.

Methods: In this study, we analyzed the humoral and cell-mediated immune responses against the Omicron BA.

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Two COVID-19 mRNA (of BNT162b2, mRNA-1273) and two adenovirus vector vaccines (ChAdOx1 and Janssen) are licensed in Europe, but optimization of regime and dosing is still ongoing. Here we show in health care workers (n = 328) that two doses of BNT162b2, mRNA-1273, or a combination of ChAdOx1 adenovirus vector and mRNA vaccines administrated with a long 12-week dose interval induce equally high levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike antibodies and neutralizing antibodies against D614 and Delta variant. By contrast, two doses of BNT162b2 with a short 3-week interval induce 2-3-fold lower titers of neutralizing antibodies than those from the 12-week interval, yet a third BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 booster dose increases the antibody levels 4-fold compared to the levels after the second dose, as well as induces neutralizing antibody against Omicron BA.

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The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants has raised concern about increased transmissibility, infectivity, and immune evasion from a vaccine and infection-induced immune responses. Although COVID-19 mRNA vaccines have proven to be highly effective against severe COVID-19 disease, the decrease in vaccine efficacy against emerged Beta and Delta variants emphasizes the need for constant monitoring of new virus lineages and studies on the persistence of vaccine-induced neutralizing antibodies. To analyze the dynamics of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine-induced antibody responses, we followed 52 health care workers in Finland for 6 months after receiving two doses of BNT162b2 vaccine with a 3-week interval.

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