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ISV Paper of the Year - 2013

Structure-Based Design of a Fusion Glycoprotein Vaccine for Respiratory Syncytial Virus

Science. 2013. Vol. 342, p. 592

Authors:

McLellan JS, Chen M, Gordon Joyce M, Sastry M, Stewart-Jones GBE, Yang Y, Zhang B, Chen L, Srivatsan S, Zheng A, Zhou T, Graepel KW, Kumar A, Moin S, Boyington JC, Chuang G-Y, Soto C, Baxa U, Bakker AQ, Spits H, Beaumont T, Zheng Z, Xia N, Ko S-Y, Todd J-P, Rao S, Graham BS, Kwong PD.

Abstract:

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of hospitalization for children under 5 years of age. We sought to engineer a viral antigen that provides greater protection than currently available vaccines and focused on antigenic site Ø, a metastable site specific to the prefusion state of the RSV fusion (F) glycoprotein, as this site is targeted by extremely potent RSV-neutralizing antibodies. Structure-based design yielded stabilized versions of RSV F that maintained antigenic site Ø when exposed to extremes of pH, osmolality, and temperature. Six RSV F crystal structures provided atomic-level data on how introduced cysteine residues and filled hydrophobic cavities improved stability. Immunization with site Ø–stabilized variants of RSV F in mice and macaques elicited levels of RSV-specific neutralizing activity many times the protective threshold.

Date