BioNTech US, 40 Erie Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
BioNTech US, 40 Erie Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Cell. 2023 May 25;186(11):2392-2409.e21. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.04.007. Epub 2023 Apr 13.
T cell responses play an important role in protection against beta-coronavirus infections, including SARS-CoV-2, where they associate with decreased COVID-19 disease severity and duration. To enhance T cell immunity across epitopes infrequently altered in SARS-CoV-2 variants, we designed BNT162b4, an mRNA vaccine component that is intended to be combined with BNT162b2, the spike-protein-encoding vaccine. BNT162b4 encodes variant-conserved, immunogenic segments of the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid, membrane, and ORF1ab proteins, targeting diverse HLA alleles. BNT162b4 elicits polyfunctional CD4 and CD8 T cell responses to diverse epitopes in animal models, alone or when co-administered with BNT162b2 while preserving spike-specific immunity. Importantly, we demonstrate that BNT162b4 protects hamsters from severe disease and reduces viral titers following challenge with viral variants. These data suggest that a combination of BNT162b2 and BNT162b4 could reduce COVID-19 disease severity and duration caused by circulating or future variants. BNT162b4 is currently being clinically evaluated in combination with the BA.4/BA.5 Omicron-updated bivalent BNT162b2 (NCT05541861).
T 细胞反应在预防β冠状病毒感染(包括 SARS-CoV-2)中发挥着重要作用,它们与降低 COVID-19 疾病严重程度和持续时间有关。为了增强针对 SARS-CoV-2 变体中很少改变的表位的 T 细胞免疫,我们设计了 BNT162b4,这是一种 mRNA 疫苗成分,旨在与编码刺突蛋白的 BNT162b2 联合使用。BNT162b4 编码 SARS-CoV-2 核衣壳、膜和 ORF1ab 蛋白中变异保守、具有免疫原性的片段,针对多种 HLA 等位基因。BNT162b4 在动物模型中单独或与 BNT162b2 联合使用时,可引发针对多种表位的多功能 CD4 和 CD8 T 细胞反应,同时保持对刺突蛋白的特异性免疫。重要的是,我们证明 BNT162b4 可保护仓鼠免受严重疾病的侵害,并降低在受到病毒变体挑战后的病毒滴度。这些数据表明,BNT162b2 和 BNT162b4 的联合使用可能会降低由循环或未来变体引起的 COVID-19 疾病严重程度和持续时间。BNT162b4 目前正在与 BA.4/BA.5 奥密克戎更新的二价 BNT162b2 (NCT05541861)联合进行临床评估。
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