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Title: Design and proof of concept for targeted phage-based COVID-19 vaccination strategies with a streamlined cold-free supply chain

Journal Article · · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
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  1. Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Newark, NJ 07101,, Division of Cancer Biology, Department of Radiation Oncology, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103,
  2. Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005,
  3. Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005,, Department of Physics, Institute of Biosciences, Humanities and Exact Sciences, São Paulo State University, São José do Rio Preto, SP 15054, Brazil,
  4. Public Health Research Institute, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103,
  5. Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115,
  6. Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08901,, Department of Surgery, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ 08901,
  7. Department of Physics and Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115,
  8. Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08901,, RCSB Protein Data Bank and Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854,, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854,, RCSB Protein Data Bank, San Diego Supercomputer Center and Skaggs School of Pharmacy &, Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92067,
  9. Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005,, Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005,, Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005,, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005,
  10. Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Newark, NJ 07101,, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103

Significance The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact. Although several vaccines have received emergency use authorization, demand has created enormous logistical challenges—including supply, access, and distribution—that justify research for alternative strategies. Phage are viruses that only infect bacteria and can be safely administered to humans. Here, as a proof-of-concept study, we demonstrate that aerosol vaccination with lung-targeted phage particles displaying short SARS-CoV-2 S protein epitopes and subcutaneous vaccination with targeted AAVP particles carrying the entire S protein gene both elicit systemic and specific immune responses in immunocompetent mice. Given their unique attributes, including sturdiness, simple-to-engineer platform, cost-effectiveness for rapid large-scale production, and stability at room temperature, these phage-based approaches may become attractive tools for COVID-19 vaccine development.

Research Organization:
Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, NJ (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0019749
OSTI ID:
1806253
Journal Information:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Issue: 30 Vol. 118; ISSN 0027-8424
Publisher:
Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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