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Packiriswamy, Nandakumar

Mayo Clinic

Department of Molecular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.

Citations 1

Surface-modified measles vaccines encoding oligomeric, prefusion-stabilized SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoproteins boost neutralizing antibody responses to Omicron and historical variants, independent of measles seropositivity
Nace, Rebecca A., Zhang, Lianwen , Singh, Gagandeep , Warang, Prajakta , Narjari, Riya , Vandergaast, Rianna , Peng, Kah-Whye , Schotsaert, Michael , Muñoz-Alía, Miguel Á , Packiriswamy, Nandakumar, Vandergaast, Rianna , Peng, Kah-Whye , García-Sastre, Adolfo , Muñoz-Alía, Miguel Ángel , Balakrishnan, Baskar , Packiriswamy, Nandakumar , Mena, Ignacio , García‐Sastre, Adolfo

mBio | January 9, 2024 | Volume: 15 | Issue: 2 | Pages: No page available

10.1128/mbio.02928-23 Get It

Although the live-attenuated measles virus (MeV) is one of the safest and most efficacious human vaccines, a measles-vectored COVID-19 vaccine candidate expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike failed to elicit neutralizing antibody (nAb) responses in a phase-1 clinical trial, especially in measles-immune individuals. Here, we constructed a comprehensive panel of MeV-based COVID-19 vaccine candidates using a MeV with extensive modifications on the envelope glycoproteins (MeV-MR). We show that artificial trimerization of the spike is critical for the induction of nAbs and that their magnitude can be significantly augmented when the spike protein is synchronously fused to a dodecahedral scaffold. Furthermore, preexisting measles immunity did not abolish heterologous immunity elicited by our vector. Our results highlight the importance of antigen optimization in the development of spike-based COVID-19 vaccines and therapies.