Repurposing the oncolytic virus VSV∆51M as a COVID-19 vaccine

Almohanad A Alkayyal; Manar Darwish; Reham Ajina; Saleh Y Alabbas; Mohammed A Alotaibi; Abeer Alsofyani; Maha Bokhamseen; Maumonah Hakami; Omar A Albaradie; Abdulaziz M Moglan; Sharif Hala; Abdullah Faisal Alsahafi; Samer Zakri; Adnan Almuzaini; Khamis Alsharari; Feras Kaboha; Mustafa Y Taher; Haggag S Zein; Fayhan Alroqi; Ahmad Bakur Mahmoud

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2023.1150892

Repurposing the oncolytic virus VSV∆51M as a COVID-19 vaccine

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2023 Jul 17:11:1150892. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1150892. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Almohanad A Alkayyal^{1

2}, Manar Darwish², Reham Ajina^{2

3}, Saleh Y Alabbas², Mohammed A Alotaibi², Abeer Alsofyani^{4

5}, Maha Bokhamseen², Maumonah Hakami², Omar A Albaradie^{2

6}, Abdulaziz M Moglan^{2

6}, Sharif Hala^{5

7}, Abdullah Faisal Alsahafi^{5

7}, Samer Zakri^{5

7}, Adnan Almuzaini⁸, Khamis Alsharari⁸, Feras Kaboha⁸, Mustafa Y Taher⁹, Haggag S Zein^{2

10}, Fayhan Alroqi^{2

11

12}, Ahmad Bakur Mahmoud^{9

13

14}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
² Immunology Research Program, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Cellular Therapy and Cancer Research, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Infectious Disease Research Department, King Abdullah International Medical Research Centre, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Experimental Medicine Department, King Abdullah International Medical Research Centre, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁰ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
¹¹ Department of Immunology, Ministry of the National Guard-Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
¹² King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
¹³ Strategic Research and Innovation Laboratories, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁴ Immunology Research Program, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic imposes an urgent and continued need for the development of safe and cost-effective vaccines to induce preventive responses for limiting major outbreaks around the world. To combat severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), we repurposed the VSV∆51M oncolytic virus platform to express the spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) antigen. In this study, we report the development and characterization of the VSV∆51M-RBD vaccine. Our findings demonstrate successful expression of the RBD gene by the VSV∆51M-RBD virus, inducing anti-RBD responses without attenuating the virus. Moreover, the VSV∆51M-RBD vaccine exhibited safety, immunogenicity, and the potential to serve as a safe and effective alternative or complementary platform to current COVID-19 vaccines.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; SARS-CoV2 vaccine; VSV∆51M-RBD vaccine; oncolytic virus; repurposing oncolytic virus.

Grants and funding

The authors extend their appreciation to King Abdullah International Medical Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for funding this study through project number (RC20/210/R) and the Deanship of Scientific Research at the University of Tabuk for funding this work through project number (0191-1441-S).