Coronaviruses continue to disrupt health and economic productivity worldwide. Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a devastating swine disease and SARS-CoV-2 is the latest coronavirus to infect the human population. Both viruses display a similar spike protein on the surface that is a target of vaccine development. Despite the availability of commercial vaccines for both viruses, there is still a high occurrence of infections and a great need for enhanced efficacy and lower costs. We previously produced the PEDV spike protein (S) using transgenic maize, enabling a low-cost supply of the vaccine candidate. In this study, we (1) test orally delivered PEDV vaccine candidates in pigs to optimize the mucosal immune response; (2) generate the SARS-CoV-2 S1 protein in maize; and (3) perform structural characterization of the S1 protein for PEDV and SARS-CoV-2. We demonstrated high expression levels in maize of the S1 subunit of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, both with and without fusion to the heat-labile enterotoxin B (LTB) subunit. We found that the LTB fusion protein from both coronaviruses preferentially assembles into higher molecular weight multimers, consistent with the formation of trimers. For PEDV, administering the spike protein fused to LTB to young pigs elicited a higher level of mucosal IgAs compared to maize grain containing the S1 protein alone or controls. This suggests that fusing the coronavirus spike protein with LTB may provide better protection.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v17010007 | DOI Listing |
Lancet
January 2025
Centre for Inflammatory Disease, Department of Immunology and Inflammation, Imperial College London, London, UK; Imperial College Renal and Transplant Centre, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK. Electronic address:
Background: In the UK, booster COVID-19 vaccinations have been recommended biannually to people considered immune vulnerable. We investigated, at a population level, whether the absence of detectable anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike protein IgG antibody (anti-S Ab) following three or more vaccinations in immunosuppressed individuals was associated with greater risks of infection and severity of infection.
Methods: In this prospective cohort study using UK national disease registers, we recruited participants with solid organ transplants (SOTs), rare autoimmune rheumatic diseases (RAIRDs), and lymphoid malignancies.
J Biol Chem
January 2025
Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1A3, Canada; Department of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1A3, Canada; Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1A3, Canada; McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1A3, Canada. Electronic address:
Site-directed mutagenesis is a fundamental tool indispensable for protein and plasmid engineering. An important technological question is how to achieve the efficiency at the ideal level of 100%. Based on complementary primer pairs, the QuickChange method has been widely used, but it requires significant improvements due to its low efficiency and frequent unwanted mutations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVirology
January 2025
State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, College of Veterinary Medicine, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, 730046, China; Gansu Province Research Center for Basic Disciplines of Pathogen Biology, Lanzhou, 730046, China. Electronic address:
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) has caused significant harm to the global pig industry since its discovery. In this study, a highly pathogenic strain of GIIa PEDV CH/HBXT/2018, isolated previously, was continuously passaged in Vero cells up to passage (P)240, resulting in a completely attenuated virus. The proliferation characteristics of different passages of the strain in Vero cells, pathogenicity in newborn piglets, and mutations in S gene sequence indicated that as the passage number increased, the replication efficiency of PEDV in Vero cells gradually improved, with a more pronounced cytopathic effect.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFViruses
December 2024
Smorodintsev Research Institute of Influenza, 197376 Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Human seasonal coronaviruses (hCoVs) are a group of viruses that affect the upper respiratory tract. While seasonal patterns and the annual variability of predominant hCoV species are well-documented, their genetic and species diversity in St. Petersburg and across Russia remains largely unexplored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFViruses
December 2024
Applied Biotechnology Institute, California Polytechnic Tech Park, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA.
Coronaviruses continue to disrupt health and economic productivity worldwide. Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a devastating swine disease and SARS-CoV-2 is the latest coronavirus to infect the human population. Both viruses display a similar spike protein on the surface that is a target of vaccine development.
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