Full protection from SARS-CoV-2 brain infection and damage in susceptible transgenic mice conferred by MVA-CoV2-S vaccine candidate
- Others:
- Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Fisiología Médica y Biofísica
- Universidad de Sevilla. CTS-516: Fisiología Celular y Biofísica
- Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation/Spanish Research Agency
- Red TerCel ISCIII
- Consejeria de Economia, Conocimiento, Empresas y Universidad
- Junta de Andalucia
- Fondo COVID-19 grant (Spanish Health Ministry, Instituto de Salud Carlos III)
- CSIC
- La CaixaImpulse grant
- European Commission-NextGenerationEU, through the CSIC's Global Health Platform (PTI Salud Global)
- European Research Council (ERC) Spanish Government
- Spanish Government
Description
Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 have been shown to be safe and effective but their protective efficacy against infection in the brain is yet unclear. Here, in the susceptible transgenic K18-hACE2 mouse model of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), we report a spatiotemporal description of SARS-CoV-2 infection and replication through the brain. SARS-CoV-2 brain replication occurs primarily in neurons, leading to neuronal loss, signs of glial activation and vascular damage in mice infected with SARS-CoV-2. One or two doses of a modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) vector expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein (MVA-CoV2-S) conferred full protection against SARS-CoV-2 cerebral infection, preventing virus replication in all areas of the brain and its associated damage. This protection was maintained even after SARS-CoV-2 reinfection. These findings further support the use of MVA-CoV2-S as a promising vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19.
Additional details
- URL
- https://idus.us.es/handle//11441/153027
- URN
- urn:oai:idus.us.es:11441/153027
- Origin repository
- USE