Potent Neutralizing Antibodies Elicited by RBD-Fc-Based COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Adjuvanted by the Th2-Skewing iNKT Cell Agonist

J Med Chem. 2021 Aug 12;64(15):11554-11569. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00881. Epub 2021 Jul 19.

Abstract

The development of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine is of paramount importance to terminate the current pandemic. An adjuvant is crucial for improving the efficacy of the subunit COVID19 vaccine. α-Galactosylceramide (αGC) is a classical iNKT cell agonist which causes the rapid production of Th1- and Th2-associated cytokines; we, therefore, expect that the Th1- or Th2-skewing analogues of αGC can better enhance the immunogenicity of the receptor-binding domain in the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 fused with the Fc region of human IgG (RBD-Fc). Herein, we developed a universal synthetic route to the Th1-biasing (α-C-GC) and Th2-biasing (OCH and C20:2) analogues. Immunization of mice demonstrated that αGC-adjuvanted RBD-Fc elicited a more potent humoral response than that observed with Alum and enabled the sparing of antigens. Remarkably, at a low dose of the RBD-Fc protein (2 μg), the Th2-biasing agonist C20:2 induced a significantly higher titer of the neutralizing antibody than that of Alum.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adjuvants, Immunologic*
  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Neutralizing / immunology*
  • COVID-19 Vaccines / immunology*
  • Female
  • Galactosylceramides / pharmacology*
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Natural Killer T-Cells / drug effects*
  • Natural Killer T-Cells / immunology
  • Th2 Cells

Substances

  • Adjuvants, Immunologic
  • Antibodies, Neutralizing
  • COVID-19 Vaccines
  • Galactosylceramides
  • alpha-galactosylceramide