Expression, purification and immunogenicity analyses of receptor binding domain protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 from delta variant

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Institute of Pathogenic Microbiology, College of Biological Science and Engineering, and Nanchang Key Laboratory of Animal Virus and Genetic Engineering, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China

Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The receptor binding domain (RBD), located at the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, contains most of the neutralizing epitopes during viral infection and is an ideal antigen for vaccine development. In this study, bioinformatic analysis of the amino acid sequence data of SARS-CoV-2 RBD protein for the better understanding of molecular characteristics was performed. The SARS-CoV-2 RBD gene was inserted into pET-28a vector, and efficiently expressed in E. coli system. Then, the recombinant proteins (RBD monomer and RBD dimer protein) were purified as antigen for animal immunization. Furthermore, the results showed that the recombinant proteins (RBD monomer and RBD dimer protein) had adequate immunogenicity to stimulate specific antibodies against the corresponding protein in immunized mice. Taken together, the results of this study revealed that RBD protein had a high immunogenicity. This study might have implications for future development of SARS-CoV-2 detection.

Keywords

Subjects


  1. Klavinskis LS, Liu MA, Lu S. A timely update of global COVID-19 vaccine development. Emerg Microbes Infect 2020; 9(1): 2379-2380.
  2. Memish ZA, Perlman S, Van Kerkhove MD, et al. Middle East respiratory syndrome. Lancet 2020; 395(10229): 1063-1077.
  3. Zhang YY, Li BR, Ning BT. The comparative immuno-logical characteristics of SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus Front Immunol 2020; 11: 2033. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.02033.
  4. Heidary M, Kaviar VH, Shirani M, et al. A comprehensive review of the protein subunit vaccines against COVID-19. Front Microbiol 2022; 13: 927306. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.927306.
  5. Alhamid G, Tombuloglu H, Rabaan AA, et al. SARS-CoV-2 detection methods: a comprehensive review. Saudi J Biol Sci 2022; 29(11): 103465. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs. 2022.103465.
  6. Brant AC, Tian W, Majerciak V, et al. SARS-CoV-2: from its discovery to genome structure, transcription, and replication. Cell Biosci 2021; 11(1): 136. doi: 10.1186/ s13578-021-00643-z.
  7. Chen M, Ma Y, Chang W. SARS-CoV-2 and the nucleus. Int J Biol Sci 2022; 18(12): 4731-4743.
  8. Walls AC, Park YJ, Tortorici MA, et al. Structure, function, and antigenicity of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein. Cell 2020; 181(2): 281-292.
  9. Clausen TM, Sandoval DR, Spliid CB, et al. SARS-CoV-2 infection depends on cellular heparan sulfate and ACE2. Cell 2020; 183(4): 1043-1057.
  10. Liang Y, Zhang J, Yuan RY, et al. Design of a mutation-integrated trimeric RBD with broad protection against SARS-CoV-2. Cell Discov 2022; 8(1): 17. doi: 10.1038/s41421-022-00383-5.
  11. Li S, Yang R, Zhang D, et al. Cross-species recognition and molecular basis of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV binding to ACE2s of marine animals. Natl Sci Rev 2022; 9. nwac122. doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwac122.
  12. McCrone JT, Hill V, Bajaj S, et al. Context-specific emergence and growth of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant. Nature 2022; 610(7930): 154-160.
  13. Zhang M, Liang Y, Yu D, et al. A systematic review of vaccine breakthrough infections by SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant. Int J Biol Sci 2022; 18(2): 889-900.
  14. Bakhiet M, Taurin S. SARS-CoV-2: targeted managements and vaccine development. Cytokine Growth Factor Rev 2021; 58: 16-29.
  15. Le TT, Cramer JP, Chen R, et al. Evolution of the COVID-19 vaccine development landscape. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2020; 19(10): 667-668.
  16. Min L, Sun Q. Antibodies and vaccines target RBD of SARS-CoV-2. Front Mol Biosci 2021; 8: 671633. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.671633.
  17. Arbeitman CR, Rojas P, Ojeda-May P, et al. The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is vulnerable to moderate electric fields. Nat Commun 2021; 12(1): 5407. doi: 10.1038/ s41467-021-25478-7.
  18. Dagotto G, Yu J, Barouch DH. Approaches and challenges in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development. Cell Host Microbe 2020; 28(3): 364-370.
  19. Bellamkonda N, Lambe UP, Sawant S, et al. Immune response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Biomedicines 2022; 10(7). 1464. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines10071464.
  20. Lederer K, Castaño D, Gómez Atria D, et al. SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines foster potent antigen-specific germinal center responses associated with neutralizing antibody generation. Immunity 2020; 53(6): 1281-1295.
  21. Zhang T, Zheng N, Wang Z, et al. Structure-based design of oligomeric receptor-binding domain (RBD) recombinant proteins as potent vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV-2. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2023; 19(1): 2174755. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2023. 2174755.
  22. Rahbar Z, Nazarian S, Dorostkar R, et al. Recombinant expression of SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) in Escherichia coli and its immunogenicity in mice. Iran J Basic Med Sci 2022; 25(9): 1110-1116.
  23. Li M, Weng S, Wang Q, et al. Reduced binding activity of vaccine serum to omicron receptor-binding domain. Front Immunol 2022; 13: 960195. doi: 10.3389/ fimmu.2022.960195.
  24. Dhawan M, Sharma A, Priyanka, et al. Delta variant (B.1.617.2) of SARS-CoV-2: mutations, impact, challenges and possible solutions. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2022; 18(5): 2068883. doi: 10.1080/ 21645515.2022.2068883.
  25. Liu Y, Zhao D, Wang Y, et al. A vaccine based on the yeast-expressed receptor-binding domain (RBD) elicits broad immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 variants. Front Immunol 2022; 13: 1011484. doi: 10.3389/ fimmu.2022.1011484.
Volume 15, Issue 12
December 2024
Pages 657-663

  • Receive Date 19 October 2023
  • Revise Date 03 January 2024
  • Accept Date 05 February 2024