A Nasal Vaccine Candidate, Containing Three Antigenic Regions from SARS-CoV-2, to Induce a Broader Response

A chimeric protein, formed by two fragments of the conserved nucleocapsid (N) and S2 proteins from SARS-CoV-2, was obtained as a recombinant construct in Escherichia coli. The N fragment belongs to the C-terminal domain whereas the S2 fragment spans the fibre structure in the post-fusion conformation of the spike protein. The resultant protein, named S2NDH, was able to form spherical particles of 10 nm, which forms aggregates upon mixture with the CpG ODN-39M. Both preparations were recognized by positive COVID-19 human sera. The S2NDH + ODN-39M formulation administered by the intranasal route resulted highly immunogenic in Balb/c mice. It induced cross-reactive anti-N humoral immunity in both sera and bronchoalveolar fluids, under a Th1 pattern. The cell-mediated immunity (CMI) was also broad, with positive response even against the N protein of SARS-CoV-1. However, neither neutralizing antibodies (NAb) nor CMI against the S2 region were obtained. As alternative, the RBD protein was included in the formulation as inducer of NAb. Upon evaluation in mice by the intranasal route, a clear adjuvant effect was detected for the S2NDH + ODN-39M preparation over RBD. High levels of NAb were induced against SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-1. The bivalent formulation S2NDH + ODN-39M + RBD, administered by the intranasal route, constitutes an attractive proposal as booster vaccine of sarbecovirus scope.