Cross-Reactive Immune Response of Bovine Coronavirus Spike Glycoprotein to SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 25; no. 21; p. 11509
• Main Authors: Cossu, Chiara, Franceschi, Valentina, Di Lorenzo, Antonino, Bolli, Elisabetta, Minesso, Sergio, Cotti, Camilla, Conti, Laura, Donofrio, Gaetano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.11.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Animals; Antibodies; Antibodies, Neutralizing - immunology; Antibodies, Viral - immunology; Artificial chromosomes; Asymptomatic; Cattle; Coronavirus, Bovine - immunology; COVID-19 - immunology; COVID-19 - virology; COVID-19 vaccines; COVID-19 Vaccines - immunology; Cross Reactions - immunology; Disease transmission; Female; Glycoproteins; Health aspects; Herpes viruses; Humans; Immune response; Immunity (Disease); Immunity, Humoral - immunology; Immunological research; Infections; Lymphocytes; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Middle East respiratory syndrome; Physiological aspects; Proteins; SARS-CoV-2 - immunology; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus - immunology; Vectors (Biology); Viral proteins; Italy; COVID-19; immune cross-reaction; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2); bovine coronavirus; bovine herpesvirus 4; spike; vaccination
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms252111509

The high variability observed in the clinical symptoms of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections has been attributed to the presence, in a proportion of infection-naive subjects, of pre-existing cross-reactive immune responses. Here, we demonstrate that the bovine coronavirus spike protein (BoS) may represent a source of protective immunity to SARS-CoV-2. Indeed, vaccination of BALB/c mice with a Bovine herpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4)-based vector expressing BoS induced both cell-mediated and humoral immune responses that cross-react with SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Although the spike-specific antibodies induced by BoS did not neutralize SARS-CoV-2, the T lymphocytes activated by BoS were able to induce cytotoxicity of cells expressing spike proteins derived from several SARS-CoV-2 variants. These results demonstrate that immunization with BoS may represent a source of cross-reactive immunity to SARS-CoV-2, and that these cross-reactive immune responses may exert protective functions. These results contribute to deciphering the mechanisms responsible for lack or mildness of symptoms observed in many individuals upon SARS-CoV-2 infection and may open new ways for the development of new vaccines for coronaviruses.