Production of SARS-CoV-2 Virus-Like Particles in Insect Cells

Youjun Mi; Tao Xie; Bingdong Zhu; Jiying Tan; Xuefeng Li; Yanping Luo; Fei Li; Hongxia Niu; Jiangyuan Han; Wei Lv; Juan Wang

doi:10.3390/vaccines9060554

Production of SARS-CoV-2 Virus-Like Particles in Insect Cells

Vaccines (Basel). 2021 May 26;9(6):554. doi: 10.3390/vaccines9060554.

Authors

Youjun Mi¹, Tao Xie¹, Bingdong Zhu¹, Jiying Tan², Xuefeng Li³, Yanping Luo², Fei Li¹, Hongxia Niu¹, Jiangyuan Han¹, Wei Lv¹, Juan Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Lanzhou Center for Tuberculosis Research and Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Evidence Based Medicine and Clinical Translation, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730070, China.
² Institute of Immunology, School of Basic Medicine, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730070, China.
³ Institute of Combined Western and Chinese Traditional Medicine, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730070, China.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) causes a serious threat to human health. Virus-like particles (VLPs) constitute a promising platform in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development. In this study, the E, M, and S genes were cloned into multiple cloning sites of a new triple expression plasmid with one p10 promoter, two pPH promoters, and three multiple cloning sites. The plasmid was transformed into DH10 Bac^TMEscherichia coli competent cells to obtain recombinant bacmid. Then the recombinant bacmid was transfected in ExpiSf9^TM insect cells to generate recombinant baculovirus. After ExpiSf9^TM cells infection with the recombinant baculovirus, the E, M, and S proteins were expressed in insect cells. Finally, SARS-CoV-2 VLPs were self-assembled in insect cells after infection. The morphology and the size of SARS-CoV-2 VLPs are similar to the native virions.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; insect cells; virus-like particles.

Abstract

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