1
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Sezer Z, Pavel STI, Inal A, Yetiskin H, Kaplan B, Uygut MA, Aslan AF, Bayram A, Mazicioglu M, Kalin Unuvar G, Yuce ZT, Aydin G, Kaya RK, Ates I, Kara A, Ozdarendeli A. Long-Term Immunogenicity and Safety of a Homologous Third Dose Booster Vaccination with TURKOVAC: Phase 2 Clinical Study Findings with 32-Week Post-Booster Follow-Up. Vaccines (Basel) 2024; 12:140. [PMID: 38400124 PMCID: PMC10893411 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines12020140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2024] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Vaccine-induced immunity wanes over time and warrants booster doses. We investigated the long-term (32 weeks) immunogenicity and safety of a third, homologous, open-label booster dose of TURKOVAC, administered 12 weeks after completion of the primary series in a randomized, controlled, double-blind, phase 2 study. Forty-two participants included in the analysis were evaluated for neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) (with microneutralization (MNT50) and focus reduction (FRNT50) tests), SARS-CoV-2 S1 RBD (Spike S1 Receptor Binding Domain), and whole SARS-CoV-2 (with ELISA) IgGs on the day of booster injection and at weeks 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, and 32 thereafter. Antibody titers increased significantly from week 1 and remained higher than the pre-booster titers until at least week 4 (week 8 for whole SARS-CoV-2) (p < 0.05 for all). Seroconversion (titers ≥ 4-fold compared with pre-immune status) persisted 16 weeks (MNT50: 6-fold; FRNT50: 5.4-fold) for NAbs and 32 weeks for S1 RBD (7.9-fold) and whole SARS-CoV-2 (9.4-fold) IgGs. Nine participants (20.9%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR between weeks 8 and 32 of booster vaccination; none of them were hospitalized or died. These findings suggest that boosting with TURKOVAC can provide effective protection against COVID-19 for at least 8 weeks and reduce the severity of the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zafer Sezer
- Department of Medical Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Türkiye
- Good Clinical Practise Centre (IKUM), Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Türkiye
| | - Shaikh Terkis Islam Pavel
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Centre (ERAGEM), Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Türkiye
| | - Ahmet Inal
- Department of Medical Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Türkiye
- Good Clinical Practise Centre (IKUM), Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Türkiye
| | - Hazel Yetiskin
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Centre (ERAGEM), Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Türkiye
| | - Busra Kaplan
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Centre (ERAGEM), Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Türkiye
| | - Muhammet Ali Uygut
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Centre (ERAGEM), Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Türkiye
| | - Ahmet Furkan Aslan
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Centre (ERAGEM), Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Türkiye
| | - Adnan Bayram
- Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Türkiye
| | - Mumtaz Mazicioglu
- Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Türkiye
| | - Gamze Kalin Unuvar
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Türkiye
| | - Zeynep Ture Yuce
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Türkiye
| | - Gunsu Aydin
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Centre (ERAGEM), Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Türkiye
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Türkiye
| | | | - Ihsan Ates
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Health Sciences Ankara City Hospital, Ankara 06530, Türkiye
| | - Ates Kara
- Health Institutes of Türkiye (TUSEB), Istanbul 34718, Türkiye
- Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara 06430, Türkiye
| | - Aykut Ozdarendeli
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Centre (ERAGEM), Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Türkiye
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Türkiye
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Mamedov T, Yuksel D, Gurbuzaslan I, Gulec B, Mammadova G, Ozdarendeli A, Pavel STI, Yetiskin H, Kaplan B, Uygut MA, Hasanova G. SARS-CoV-2 spike protein S1 subunit induces potent neutralizing responses in mice and is effective against Delta and Omicron variants. Front Plant Sci 2023; 14:1290042. [PMID: 38034565 PMCID: PMC10682712 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1290042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2023] [Accepted: 10/25/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023]
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, belongs to the betacoronavirus genus. This virus has a high mutation rate, which rapidly evolves into new variants with different properties, such as increased transmissibility or immune evasion. Currently, the most prevalent global SARS-CoV-2 variant is Omicron, which is more transmissible than previous variants. Current available vaccines may be less effective against some currently existing SARS-CoV-2 variants, including the Omicron variant. The S1 subunit of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 has been a major target for COVID-19 vaccine development. It plays a crucial role in the virus's entry into host cells and is the primary target for neutralizing antibodies. In this study, the S1 subunit of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 was engineered and produced at a high level in Nicotiana benthamiana plant. The expression level of the recombinant S1 protein was greater than the 0.5-g/kg fresh weight, and the purification yield was at least ~0.3 g of pure protein/kg of plant biomass, which would make a plant-produced S1 antigen an ideal vaccine candidate for commercialization. Purified, the plant-produced SARS-CoV-2 S1 protein exhibited significantly higher binding to the SARS-CoV-2 receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Moreover, we also show that recombinant S1 protein/antigen-elicited antibodies can neutralize the Delta or Omicron variants. Collectively, our results demonstrate that a plant-produced S1 antigen could be a promising vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2 variants including Omicron.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tarlan Mamedov
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Türkiye
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnologies, Ministry of Science and Education of Azerbaijan, Baku, Azerbaijan
| | - Damla Yuksel
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Türkiye
| | - Irem Gurbuzaslan
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Türkiye
| | - Burcu Gulec
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Türkiye
| | - Gulshan Mammadova
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Türkiye
| | - Aykut Ozdarendeli
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
| | - Shaikh Terkis Islam Pavel
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
| | - Hazel Yetiskin
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
| | - Busra Kaplan
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
| | - Muhammet Ali Uygut
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
| | - Gulnara Hasanova
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Türkiye
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Mamedov T, Yuksel D, Gurbuzaslan I, Ilgin M, Gulec B, Mammadova G, Ozdarendeli A, Pavel STI, Yetiskin H, Kaplan B, Uygut MA, Hasanova G. Plant-produced RBD and cocktail-based vaccine candidates are highly effective against SARS-CoV-2, independently of its emerging variants. Front Plant Sci 2023; 14:1202570. [PMID: 37600182 PMCID: PMC10433747 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1202570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023]
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel and highly pathogenic coronavirus that caused an outbreak in Wuhan City, China, in 2019 and then spread rapidly throughout the world. Although several coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines are currently available for mass immunization, they are less effective against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, especially the Omicron (B.1.1.529). Recently, we successfully produced receptor-binding domain (RBD) variants of the spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 and an antigen cocktail in Nicotiana benthamiana, which are highly produced in plants and elicited high-titer antibodies with potent neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2. In this study, based on neutralization ability, we demonstrate that plant-produced RBD and cocktail-based vaccine candidates are highly effective against SARS-CoV-2, independently of its emerging variants. These data demonstrate that plant-produced RBD and cocktail-based proteins are the most promising vaccine candidates and may protect against Delta and Omicron-mediated COVID-19. This is the first report describing vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, which demonstrate significant activities against Delta and Omicron variants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tarlan Mamedov
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Türkiye
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnologies, Ministry of Science and Education, Republic of Azerbaijan, Baku, Azerbaijan
| | - Damla Yuksel
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Türkiye
| | - Irem Gurbuzaslan
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Türkiye
| | - Merve Ilgin
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Türkiye
| | - Burcu Gulec
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Türkiye
| | - Gulshan Mammadova
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Türkiye
| | - Aykut Ozdarendeli
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
| | - Shaikh Terkis Islam Pavel
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
| | - Hazel Yetiskin
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
| | - Busra Kaplan
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
| | - Muhammet Ali Uygut
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
| | - Gulnara Hasanova
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Türkiye
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Gül F, Gonen ZB, Jones OY, Taşlı NP, Zararsız G, Ünal E, Özdarendeli A, Şahin F, Eken A, Yılmaz S, Karakukçu M, Kırbaş OK, Gökdemir NS, Bozkurt BT, Özkul Y, Oktay BD, Uygut MA, Cinel I, Çetin M. A pilot study for treatment of severe COVID-19 pneumonia by aerosolized formulation of convalescent human immune plasma exosomes (ChipEXO™). Front Immunol 2022; 13:963309. [PMID: 36439138 PMCID: PMC9682905 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.963309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 07/22/2023] Open
Abstract
This is a single-center prospective, open-label, single arm interventional study to test the safety and efficacy of recently described ChipEXO™ for severe COVID-19 pneumonia. The ChipEXO™ is a natural product derived from convalescent human immune plasma of patients recovered from moderate COVID-19 infection. In September 2021, 13 patients with pending respiratory failure were treated with ChipEXO™ adapted for aerosolized formulation delivered via jet nebulizer. Patients received 1-5x1010 nano vesicle/5 mL in distilled water twice daily for five days as an add-on to ongoing conventional COVID-19 treatment. The primary endpoint was patient safety and survival over a 28-day follow-up. The secondary endpoint was longitudinal assessment of clinical parameters following ChipEXO™ to evaluate treatment response and gain insights into the pharmacodynamics. ChipEXO™ was tolerated well without any allergic reaction or acute toxicity. The survival rate was 84.6% and 11 out of 13 recovered without any sequel to lungs or other organs. ChipEXO™ treatment was effective immediately as shown in arterial blood gas analyses before and two hours after exosome inhalation. During the 5 days of treatment, there was a sustainable and gradual improvement on oxygenation parameters: i.e. respiratory rate (RR) [20.8% (P < 0.05)], oxygen saturation (SpO2) [6,7% (P < 0.05)] and partial pressure of oxygen to the fraction of inspired oxygen (PaO2/FiO2) [127.9% (P < 0.05)] that correlated with steep decrease in the disease activity scores and inflammatory markers, i.e. the sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score (75%, p < 0.05), C-reactive protein (46% p < 0.05), ferritin (58% p = 0.53), D-dimer (28% p=0.46). In conclusion, aerosolized ChipEXO™ showed promising safety and efficacy for life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia. Further studies on larger patient populations are required to confirm our findings and understand the pathophysiology of improvement toward a new therapeutic agent for the treatment of severe COVID-19 pneumonia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fethi Gül
- Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Division of Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Marmara University, Istanbul, Türkiye
| | | | - Olcay Y. Jones
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Neslihan Pakize Taşlı
- Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Yeditepe University, İstanbul, Türkiye
| | - Gökmen Zararsız
- Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
| | - Ekrem Ünal
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Hematology, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
| | - Aykut Özdarendeli
- Faculty of Medicine, Vaccine Research and Development Application and Research Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
| | - Fikrettin Şahin
- Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Yeditepe University, İstanbul, Türkiye
| | - Ahmet Eken
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
| | - Semih Yılmaz
- Institute of Health Sciences, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
| | - Musa Karakukçu
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Hematology, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
| | - Oğuz Kaan Kırbaş
- Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Yeditepe University, İstanbul, Türkiye
| | - Nur Seda Gökdemir
- Betül-Ziya Eren Genome and Stem Cell Center (GENKOK), Kayseri, Türkiye
| | - Batuhan Turhan Bozkurt
- Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Yeditepe University, İstanbul, Türkiye
| | - Yusuf Özkul
- Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
| | - Burçin Doruk Oktay
- Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Division of Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Marmara University, İstanbul, Türkiye
| | - Muhammet Ali Uygut
- Vaccine Research and Development Application and Research Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
| | - Ismail Cinel
- Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Division of Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Marmara University, İstanbul, Türkiye
| | - Mustafa Çetin
- Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
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5
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Gül F, Gonen ZB, Jones OY, Taşlı NP, Zararsız G, Ünal E, Özdarendeli A, Şahin F, Eken A, Yılmaz S, Karakukçu M, Kırbaş OK, Gökdemir NS, Bozkurt BT, Özkul Y, Oktay BD, Uygut MA, Cinel I, Çetin M. A pilot study for treatment of severe COVID-19 pneumonia by aerosolized formulation of convalescent human immune plasma exosomes (ChipEXO™). Front Immunol 2022. [DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.963309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
This is a single-center prospective, open-label, single arm interventional study to test the safety and efficacy of recently described ChipEXO™ for severe COVID-19 pneumonia. The ChipEXO™ is a natural product derived from convalescent human immune plasma of patients recovered from moderate COVID-19 infection. In September 2021, 13 patients with pending respiratory failure were treated with ChipEXO™ adapted for aerosolized formulation delivered via jet nebulizer. Patients received 1-5x1010 nano vesicle/5 mL in distilled water twice daily for five days as an add-on to ongoing conventional COVID-19 treatment. The primary endpoint was patient safety and survival over a 28-day follow-up. The secondary endpoint was longitudinal assessment of clinical parameters following ChipEXO™ to evaluate treatment response and gain insights into the pharmacodynamics. ChipEXO™ was tolerated well without any allergic reaction or acute toxicity. The survival rate was 84.6% and 11 out of 13 recovered without any sequel to lungs or other organs. ChipEXO™ treatment was effective immediately as shown in arterial blood gas analyses before and two hours after exosome inhalation. During the 5 days of treatment, there was a sustainable and gradual improvement on oxygenation parameters: i.e. respiratory rate (RR) [20.8% (P < 0.05)], oxygen saturation (SpO2) [6,7% (P < 0.05)] and partial pressure of oxygen to the fraction of inspired oxygen (PaO2/FiO2) [127.9% (P < 0.05)] that correlated with steep decrease in the disease activity scores and inflammatory markers, i.e. the sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score (75%, p < 0.05), C-reactive protein (46% p < 0.05), ferritin (58% p = 0.53), D-dimer (28% p=0.46). In conclusion, aerosolized ChipEXO™ showed promising safety and efficacy for life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia. Further studies on larger patient populations are required to confirm our findings and understand the pathophysiology of improvement toward a new therapeutic agent for the treatment of severe COVID-19 pneumonia.
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6
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Gül F, Gonen ZB, Jones OY, Taşlı NP, Zararsız G, Ünal E, Özdarendeli A, Şahin F, Eken A, Yılmaz S, Karakukçu M, Kırbaş OK, Gökdemir NS, Bozkurt BT, Özkul Y, Oktay BD, Uygut MA, Cinel I, Çetin M. A pilot study for treatment of severe COVID-19 pneumonia by aerosolized formulation of convalescent human immune plasma exosomes (ChipEXO™). Front Immunol 2022. [DOI: https:/doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.963309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
This is a single-center prospective, open-label, single arm interventional study to test the safety and efficacy of recently described ChipEXO™ for severe COVID-19 pneumonia. The ChipEXO™ is a natural product derived from convalescent human immune plasma of patients recovered from moderate COVID-19 infection. In September 2021, 13 patients with pending respiratory failure were treated with ChipEXO™ adapted for aerosolized formulation delivered via jet nebulizer. Patients received 1-5x1010 nano vesicle/5 mL in distilled water twice daily for five days as an add-on to ongoing conventional COVID-19 treatment. The primary endpoint was patient safety and survival over a 28-day follow-up. The secondary endpoint was longitudinal assessment of clinical parameters following ChipEXO™ to evaluate treatment response and gain insights into the pharmacodynamics. ChipEXO™ was tolerated well without any allergic reaction or acute toxicity. The survival rate was 84.6% and 11 out of 13 recovered without any sequel to lungs or other organs. ChipEXO™ treatment was effective immediately as shown in arterial blood gas analyses before and two hours after exosome inhalation. During the 5 days of treatment, there was a sustainable and gradual improvement on oxygenation parameters: i.e. respiratory rate (RR) [20.8% (P < 0.05)], oxygen saturation (SpO2) [6,7% (P < 0.05)] and partial pressure of oxygen to the fraction of inspired oxygen (PaO2/FiO2) [127.9% (P < 0.05)] that correlated with steep decrease in the disease activity scores and inflammatory markers, i.e. the sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score (75%, p < 0.05), C-reactive protein (46% p < 0.05), ferritin (58% p = 0.53), D-dimer (28% p=0.46). In conclusion, aerosolized ChipEXO™ showed promising safety and efficacy for life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia. Further studies on larger patient populations are required to confirm our findings and understand the pathophysiology of improvement toward a new therapeutic agent for the treatment of severe COVID-19 pneumonia.
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Mamedov T, Yuksel D, Ilgın M, Gürbüzaslan I, Gulec B, Mammadova G, Ozdarendeli A, Yetiskin H, Kaplan B, Islam Pavel ST, Uygut MA, Hasanova G. Production and Characterization of Nucleocapsid and RBD Cocktail Antigens of SARS-CoV-2 in Nicotiana benthamiana Plant as a Vaccine Candidate against COVID-19. Vaccines (Basel) 2021; 9:1337. [PMID: 34835268 PMCID: PMC8621474 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines9111337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2021] [Revised: 11/06/2021] [Accepted: 11/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has put global public health at high risk, rapidly spreading around the world. Although several COVID-19 vaccines are available for mass immunization, the world still urgently needs highly effective, reliable, cost-effective, and safe SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus vaccines, as well as antiviral and therapeutic drugs, to control the COVID-19 pandemic given the emerging variant strains of the virus. Recently, we successfully produced receptor-binding domain (RBD) variants in the Nicotiana benthamiana plant as promising vaccine candidates against COVID-19 and demonstrated that mice immunized with these antigens elicited a high titer of RBD-specific antibodies with potent neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we engineered the nucleocapsid (N) protein and co-expressed it with RBD of SARS-CoV-2 in Nicotiana benthamiana plant to produce an antigen cocktail. The purification yields were about 22 or 24 mg of pure protein/kg of plant biomass for N or N+RBD antigens, respectively. The purified plant produced N protein was recognized by N protein-specific monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies demonstrating specific reactivity of mAb to plant-produced N protein. In this study, for the first time, we report the co-expression of RBD with N protein to produce a cocktail antigen of SARS-CoV-2, which elicited high-titer antibodies with potent neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2. Thus, obtained data support that a plant-produced antigen cocktail, developed in this study, is a promising vaccine candidate against COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tarlan Mamedov
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya 07058, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (G.H.)
| | - Damla Yuksel
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya 07058, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (G.H.)
| | - Merve Ilgın
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya 07058, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (G.H.)
| | - Irem Gürbüzaslan
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya 07058, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (G.H.)
| | - Burcu Gulec
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya 07058, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (G.H.)
| | - Gulshan Mammadova
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya 07058, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (G.H.)
| | - Aykut Ozdarendeli
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Turkey; (A.O.); (H.Y.); (B.K.); (S.T.I.P.); (M.A.U.)
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Turkey
| | - Hazel Yetiskin
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Turkey; (A.O.); (H.Y.); (B.K.); (S.T.I.P.); (M.A.U.)
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Turkey
| | - Busra Kaplan
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Turkey; (A.O.); (H.Y.); (B.K.); (S.T.I.P.); (M.A.U.)
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Turkey
| | - Shaikh Terkis Islam Pavel
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Turkey; (A.O.); (H.Y.); (B.K.); (S.T.I.P.); (M.A.U.)
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Turkey
| | - Muhammet Ali Uygut
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38280, Turkey; (A.O.); (H.Y.); (B.K.); (S.T.I.P.); (M.A.U.)
| | - Gulnara Hasanova
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, Antalya 07058, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (G.H.)
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Mamedov T, Yuksel D, Ilgın M, Gurbuzaslan I, Gulec B, Yetiskin H, Uygut MA, Islam Pavel ST, Ozdarendeli A, Mammadova G, Say D, Hasanova G. Plant-Produced Glycosylated and In Vivo Deglycosylated Receptor Binding Domain Proteins of SARS-CoV-2 Induce Potent Neutralizing Responses in Mice. Viruses 2021; 13:1595. [PMID: 34452461 PMCID: PMC8402646 DOI: 10.3390/v13081595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2021] [Revised: 08/08/2021] [Accepted: 08/08/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has rapidly spread to more than 222 countries and has put global public health at high risk. The world urgently needs cost-effective and safe SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, antiviral, and therapeutic drugs to control it. In this study, we engineered the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein and produced it in the plant Nicotiana benthamiana in a glycosylated and deglycosylated form. Expression levels of both glycosylated (gRBD) and deglycosylated (dRBD) RBD were greater than 45 mg/kg fresh weight. The purification yields were 22 mg of pure protein/kg of plant biomass for gRBD and 20 mg for dRBD, which would be sufficient for commercialization of these vaccine candidates. The purified plant-produced RBD protein was recognized by an S protein-specific monoclonal antibody, demonstrating specific reactivity of the antibody to the plant-produced RBD proteins. The SARS-CoV-2 RBD showed specific binding to angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the SARS-CoV-2 receptor. In mice, the plant-produced RBD antigens elicited high titers of antibodies with a potent virus-neutralizing activity. To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating that mice immunized with plant-produced deglycosylated RBD form elicited high titer of RBD-specific antibodies with potent neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Thus, obtained data support that plant-produced glycosylated and in vivo deglycosylated RBD antigens, developed in this study, are promising vaccine candidates for the prevention of COVID-19.
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MESH Headings
- Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2/metabolism
- Animals
- Antibodies, Monoclonal/immunology
- Antibodies, Neutralizing/blood
- Antibodies, Neutralizing/immunology
- Antibodies, Viral/blood
- Antibodies, Viral/immunology
- Chlorocebus aethiops
- Glycosylation
- Male
- Mice
- Mice, Inbred BALB C
- Neutralization Tests
- Plants, Genetically Modified
- Protein Binding
- Protein Domains
- Protein Engineering
- Protein Stability
- Receptors, Coronavirus/metabolism
- Recombinant Proteins/chemistry
- Recombinant Proteins/metabolism
- SARS-CoV-2/immunology
- Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/chemistry
- Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/genetics
- Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/immunology
- Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/metabolism
- Nicotiana/genetics
- Nicotiana/metabolism
- Vero Cells
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Affiliation(s)
- Tarlan Mamedov
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, 07058 Antalya, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (D.S.); (G.H.)
| | - Damla Yuksel
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, 07058 Antalya, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (D.S.); (G.H.)
| | - Merve Ilgın
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, 07058 Antalya, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (D.S.); (G.H.)
| | - Irem Gurbuzaslan
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, 07058 Antalya, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (D.S.); (G.H.)
| | - Burcu Gulec
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, 07058 Antalya, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (D.S.); (G.H.)
| | - Hazel Yetiskin
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, 38280 Kayseri, Turkey; (H.Y.); (M.A.U.); (S.T.I.P.); (A.O.)
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, 38280 Kayseri, Turkey
| | - Muhammet Ali Uygut
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, 38280 Kayseri, Turkey; (H.Y.); (M.A.U.); (S.T.I.P.); (A.O.)
| | - Shaikh Terkis Islam Pavel
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, 38280 Kayseri, Turkey; (H.Y.); (M.A.U.); (S.T.I.P.); (A.O.)
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, 38280 Kayseri, Turkey
| | - Aykut Ozdarendeli
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, 38280 Kayseri, Turkey; (H.Y.); (M.A.U.); (S.T.I.P.); (A.O.)
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, 38280 Kayseri, Turkey
| | - Gulshan Mammadova
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, 07058 Antalya, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (D.S.); (G.H.)
| | - Deniz Say
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, 07058 Antalya, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (D.S.); (G.H.)
| | - Gulnara Hasanova
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Akdeniz University, 07058 Antalya, Turkey; (D.Y.); (M.I.); (I.G.); (B.G.); (G.M.); (D.S.); (G.H.)
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Pavel STI, Yetiskin H, Aydin G, Holyavkin C, Uygut MA, Dursun ZB, Celik İ, Cevik C, Ozdarendeli A. Isolation and characterization of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in Turkey. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0238614. [PMID: 32936826 PMCID: PMC7494126 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0238614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and associated with severe respiratory illness emerged in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. The virus has been able to spread promptly across all continents in the world. The current pandemic has posed a great threat to public health concern and safety. Currently, there are no specific treatments or licensed vaccines available for COVID-19. We isolated SARS-CoV-2 from the nasopharyngeal sample of a patient in Turkey with confirmed COVID-19. We determined that the Vero E6 and MA-104 cell lines are suitable for supporting SARS-CoV-2 that supports viral replication, development of cytopathic effect (CPE) and subsequent cell death. Phylogenetic analyses of the whole genome sequences showed that the hCoV-19/Turkey/ERAGEM-001/2020 strain clustered with the strains primarily from Australia, Canada, England, Iran and Kuwait and that the cases in the nearby clusters were reported to have travel history to Iran and to share the common unique nucleotide substitutions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaikh Terkis Islam Pavel
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey
| | - Hazel Yetiskin
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey
| | - Gunsu Aydin
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey
| | | | - Muhammet Ali Uygut
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey
| | - Zehra Bestepe Dursun
- Department of Microbiology and Infectious Disease, Kayseri City Training and Research Hospital, Kayseri, Turkey
| | - İlhami Celik
- Department of Microbiology and Infectious Disease, Kayseri City Training and Research Hospital, Kayseri, Turkey
| | - Ceren Cevik
- Gen Era Diagnostics Inc. Barbaros, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Aykut Ozdarendeli
- Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey
- Vaccine Research, Development and Application Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey
- * E-mail:
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