Spike RBD Protein

Quality Statement:
Coronaviruses that infect humans belong to the Alpha-coronavirus (including HCoV-229E) and Beta-coronavirus (including SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2) genera. In particular, SARS-CoV-2 is currently a major threat to public health worldwide. The spike (S) homotrimers bind to their receptors via the receptor-binding domain (RBD), which is a major target to block viral entry. our results reveal different vaccine strategies for coronaviruses, and S-trimer is better than RBD as a target for vaccine development in Alpha-coronavirus Our findings will provide important implications for future development of coronavirus vaccines. Outbreak of coronaviruses, especially SARS-CoV-2, poses a serious threat to global public health. Development of vaccines to prevent the coronaviruses that can infect humans has always been a top priority. Coronavirus spike (S) protein is considered as a major target for vaccine development. Currently, structural studies have shown that Alpha-coronavirus (HCoV-229E) and Beta-coronavirus (SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2) RBDs are in \”lying\” and \”standing\” states in the prefusion S-trimer structure. Here, we evaluated the ability of S-trimer and RBD to induce neutralizing antibodies among these coronaviruses. Our results showed that the S-trimer and RBD are both candidates for subunit vaccines in Beta-coronavirus (SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2) with a RBD \”standing\” state. However, for Alpha-coronavirus (HCoV-229E) with a RBD \”lying\” state, the S-trimer may be more suitable for subunit vaccines than the RBD. Our results will provide novel ideas for the development of vaccines targeting S protein in the future.

Reference:
1. Yuejun Shi, Jiale Shi, Limeng Sun, Yubei Tan, Gang Wang, Fenglin Guo, Guangli Hu, Yanan Fu, Zhen F Fu, Shaobo Xiao.Insight into vaccine development for Alpha-coronaviruses based on structural and immunological analyses of spike proteins. J Virol. 2021 Mar 10;95(7):e02284-20. doi: 10.1128/JVI.02284-20. Epub 2021 Jan 7.