Evaluation of candidate vaccine approaches for MERS-CoV.
Wang, L., Shi, W., Joyce, M.G., Modjarrad, K., Zhang, Y., Leung, K., Lees, C.R., Zhou, T., Yassine, H.M., Kanekiyo, M., Yang, Z.Y., Chen, X., Becker, M.M., Freeman, M., Vogel, L., Johnson, J.C., Olinger, G., Todd, J.P., Bagci, U., Solomon, J., Mollura, D.J., Hensley, L., Jahrling, P., Denison, M.R., Rao, S.S., Subbarao, K., Kwong, P.D., Mascola, J.R., Kong, W.P., Graham, B.S.(2015) Nat Commun 6: 7712-7712
- PubMed: 26218507 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8712
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
4ZPT, 4ZPV, 4ZPW - PubMed Abstract: 
The emergence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) as a cause of severe respiratory disease highlights the need for effective approaches to CoV vaccine development. Efforts focused solely on the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the viral Spike (S) glycoprotein may not optimize neutralizing antibody (NAb) responses. Here we show that immunogens based on full-length S DNA and S1 subunit protein elicit robust serum-neutralizing activity against several MERS-CoV strains in mice and non-human primates. Serological analysis and isolation of murine monoclonal antibodies revealed that immunization elicits NAbs to RBD and, non-RBD portions of S1 and S2 subunit. Multiple neutralization mechanisms were demonstrated by solving the atomic structure of a NAb-RBD complex, through sequencing of neutralization escape viruses and by constructing MERS-CoV S variants for serological assays. Immunization of rhesus macaques confers protection against MERS-CoV-induced radiographic pneumonia, as assessed using computerized tomography, supporting this strategy as a promising approach for MERS-CoV vaccine development.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.