overview: A new COVID-19 vaccine developed by researchers at CNB-CSIC appears to protect against brain infections and neurological symptoms associated with the coronavirus.
sauce: University of Seville
Respiratory pathology is the main impact of COVID-19, but many patients also have significant neurological symptoms such as smell loss (loss of smell), headache, fatigue, cognitive impairment, epilepsy, ataxia and encephalopathy. is showing.
However, this impact of coronaviruses on the nervous system has not been characterized in detail, suggesting that a vaccine developed against COVID-19 could prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 to the central nervous system and prevent brain injury. Not sure if it gives protection.
Currently, using a mouse model susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection, an interdisciplinary team of Spanish researchers (IBiS, CIBERNED, Medical Physiology and Department of Biophysics), Faculty of Medicine, University of Seville) and Juan García-Ariaza (Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, CNB-CSIC, CIBERINFEC and PTI Global Health, CSIC), in collaboration with other groups of the University of Seville and the Spanish National Research Council ( CSIC) demonstrates the ability of SARS-CoV-2 to infect different areas of the brain and cause brain damage, and how the CNB-CSIC vaccine can completely prevent brain infection.
These findings are Nature Neuroscience.
Researchers have studied the evolution of viral infections in different brain regions, where viral replication occurs predominantly in neurons, leading to neuropathological changes such as neuronal loss, glial activation and vascular damage. is focused on causing
“We have performed very detailed anatomical, pathological and molecular studies of brain regions and types of virus-infected cells. It will be interesting to see if it gets infected,” explains Javier Villadiego.
Once the pattern of intracerebral infection with SARS-CoV-2 was established, researchers evaluated the efficacy of a vaccine against COVID-19 developed at CNB-CSIC. To do this, they injected mice with one or two doses of the MVA-CoV2-S vaccine, based on the modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) expressing the spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2. was immunized and analyzed for its capacity. Protects against infections and damage to the brain.
“The results obtained are striking, and even a single dose of the MVA-CoV2-S vaccine completely prevented SARS-CoV-2 infection in all studied brain regions and associated brain damage. It has been demonstrated to prevent the virus.This demonstrates the excellent efficacy and immunity of vaccines that induce bactericidal immunity in the brain, ”says Juan García Arriaza.
These results reinforce previous data on the immunogenicity and efficacy of MVA-CoV2-S vaccines in various animal models.
“We have previously demonstrated in a series of publications that the MVA-CoV2-S vaccine developed at CNB-CSIC elicits a strong immune response of antibodies that bind the S protein in three animal models (mouse, hamster and macaque). Mariano Esteban, a CNB-CSIC researcher involved in the study, said:
This result has important long-term implications for understanding the infectious diseases caused by SARS-CoV-2. “The data obtained about his SARS-CoV-2 infection in the brain are consistent with neurological pathology observed in COVID-19 patients,” said his IBiS investigator who participated in this publication. of José Lopez says his Balneo.
“Our study is the first to study a vaccine that is 100% effective against brain damage in susceptible mice caused by SARS-CoV-2, and the results obtained show that the vaccine is effective against brain damage in a few infected individuals. It strongly suggests that we can prevent the observed persistent COVID-19 with SARS-CoV-2,” says Juan José Toledo-Aral.
“The data provided in this study demonstrate a complete inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 replication in the brain mediated by the MVA-CoV2-S vaccine, which is consistent with the immunity published by this group and collaborators. Along with previous studies on virulence and vaccine efficacy, the various SARS-CoV-2 variants have been tested in Phase I using such vaccines or similar prototypes to assess safety and immunogenicity. It will support phased clinical trials,” the study authors emphasize.
About this COVID-19 research news
author: press office
sauce: University of Seville
contact: Press Office – University of Seville
image: image is public domain
See also
Original research: open access.
“Complete protection from SARS-CoV-2 brain infection and injury in susceptible transgenic mice conferred by the MVA-CoV2-S vaccine candidate” Javier Villadiego et al. Nature Neuroscience
overview
Complete protection from SARS-CoV-2 brain infection and injury in susceptible transgenic mice conferred by the MVA-CoV2-S vaccine candidate
Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 have been shown to be safe and effective, but their protective efficacy against intracerebral infections is still unknown.
Here, we report a spatiotemporal explanation of SARS-CoV-2 infection and brain-mediated replication in a susceptible transgenic K18-hACE2 mouse model of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). SARS-CoV-2 brain replication occurs primarily in neurons, leading to neuronal loss, signs of glial activation, and vascular damage in mice infected with SARS-CoV-2.
One or two doses of a modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) vector expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein (MVA-CoV2-S) provided complete protection against SARS-CoV-2 brain infection. given and prevented all viral replication. Areas of the brain and their associated injuries. This protection was maintained after re-infection with SARS-CoV-2.
These findings further support the use of MVA-CoV2-S as a promising vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19.
