Department of Research, Craniomed Group Facility Srl, Bresso, Italy.
ISB-Ion Source & Biotechnologies Srl, Bresso, Italy.
Proteomics Clin Appl. 2023 Nov;17(6):e2300048. doi: 10.1002/prca.202300048. Epub 2023 Aug 31.
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic prompted the development and use of next-generation vaccines. Among these, mRNA-based vaccines consist of injectable solutions of mRNA encoding for a recombinant Spike, which is distinguishable from the wild-type protein due to specific amino acid variations introduced to maintain the protein in a prefused state. This work presents a proteomic approach to reveal the presence of recombinant Spike protein in vaccinated subjects regardless of antibody titer.
Mass spectrometry examination of biological samples was used to detect the presence of specific fragments of recombinant Spike protein in subjects who received mRNA-based vaccines.
The specific PP-Spike fragment was found in 50% of the biological samples analyzed, and its presence was independent of the SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody titer. The minimum and maximum time at which PP-Spike was detected after vaccination was 69 and 187 days, respectively.
The presented method allows to evaluate the half-life of the Spike protein molecule "PP" and to consider the risks or benefits in continuing to administer additional booster doses of the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine. This approach is of valuable support to complement antibody level monitoring and represents the first proteomic detection of recombinant Spike in vaccinated subjects.
SARS-CoV-2 大流行促使下一代疫苗的开发和使用。其中，基于 mRNA 的疫苗由编码重组 Spike 的 mRNA 注射溶液组成，由于引入了特定的氨基酸变异以保持蛋白处于预融合状态，因此该重组 Spike 与野生型蛋白不同。本研究提出了一种蛋白质组学方法，无论抗体滴度如何，均可检测接种疫苗的受试者中重组 Spike 蛋白的存在。
使用质谱分析生物样本，以检测接种基于 mRNA 的疫苗的受试者中重组 Spike 蛋白的特定片段的存在。
在分析的 50%的生物样本中发现了特定的 PP-Spike 片段，其存在与 SARS-CoV-2 IgG 抗体滴度无关。接种后检测到 PP-Spike 的最短和最长时间分别为 69 天和 187 天。
所提出的方法允许评估 Spike 蛋白分子“PP”的半衰期，并考虑继续施用额外的 SARS-CoV-2 mRNA 疫苗加强针的风险或益处。这种方法对补充抗体水平监测具有重要支持作用，代表了在接种疫苗的受试者中对重组 Spike 的首次蛋白质组学检测。
