These RBDs unlock the virus to latch onto and infect human cells.
Caltech researchers decided to take a different approach.
Theyengineereda nanoparticle vaccine that displays 60 copies of RBDs from up to eight different coronaviruses.
When injected, the nanoparticle exposes the immune system to all the distinct RBD shapes simultaneously.
This prompts the body to produce antibodies targeting both the variable and conserved regions of the viruses.
The vaccine successfully prevented the virus from infecting the test animals.
Remarkably, mosaic-7COM also demonstrated near-equivalent effectiveness in animals that had previously received existing mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccines.
This finding reflects a real-world scenario, where next-generation vaccines must enhance pre-existing immunity.
Efforts are already underway to progress the mosaic-8 nanoparticle into clinical trials.
Researchers also plan to test mosaic-7COM soon, given its superior performance in recent studies.
Image credit:Artem Podrez,Polina Tankilevitch
