Single-dose intranasal vaccination elicits systemic and mucosal immunity against SARS-CoV-2

• Published in: iScience Vol. 24; no. 9; p. 103037
• Main Authors: An, Xingyue, Martinez-Paniagua, Melisa, Rezvan, Ali, Sefat, Samiur Rahman, Fathi, Mohsen, Singh, Shailbala, Biswas, Sujit, Pourpak, Melissa, Yee, Cassian, Liu, Xinli, Varadarajan, Navin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 24.09.2021; Elsevier
• Subjects: Immunology; Virology; Immunology; Virology
• ISSN: 2589-0042; 2589-0042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103037

Despite remarkable progress in the development and authorization of vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), there is a need to validate vaccine platforms for broader application. The current intramuscular vaccines are designed to elicit systemic immunity without conferring mucosal immunity in the nasal compartment, which is the first barrier that SARS-CoV-2 virus breaches before dissemination to the lung. We report the development of an intranasal subunit vaccine that uses lyophilized spike protein and liposomal STING agonist as an adjuvant. This vaccine induces systemic neutralizing antibodies, IgA in the lung and nasal compartments, and T-cell responses in the lung of mice. Single-cell RNA sequencing confirmed the coordinated activation of T/B-cell responses in a germinal center-like manner within the nasal-associated lymphoid tissues, confirming its role as an inductive site to enable durable immunity. The ability to elicit immunity in the respiratory tract can prevent the establishment of infection in individuals and prevent disease transmission. [Display omitted] •An intranasal subunit vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 elicits rapid immunity•Stable single-dose vaccine elicits systematic and mucosal immune responses•Spike-specific IgA responses are present in the nasal compartment and the lung Immunology; Virology