Correction to “Recombinant Spike protein vaccines coupled with adjuvants that have different modes of action induce protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2” [Vaccine 2023 Sep 22 41(41) 6025–6035. Doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.08.054]

Abstract

In the previously published version of the paper, the term “AS03” was used to describe the AddaS03 adjuvant used in animal experiments. This could lead to confusion among the trade and public as to a connection between the AddaS03 adjuvant and GSK's AS03. Upon request by GSK, the authors clarify that no AS03 from GSK was used in this study, and the results obtained with AddaS03 are not transposable to the GSK's AS03 adjuvant. The article has now been corrected, and the conclusions of this paper remain unchanged.

Corrections highlighted in bold.

The spike (S) protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a glycoprotein, expressed on the virion surface, that mediates infection of host cells by directly interacting with host receptors. As such, it is a reasonable target to neutralize the infectivity of the virus. Here we found that a recombinant S protein vaccine adjuvanted with Alhydrogel or the QS-21-like adjuvant Quil-A effectively induced anti-S receptor binding domain (RBD) serum IgG and neutralizing antibody titers in the Syrian hamster model, resulting in significantly low SARS-CoV-2 replication in respiratory organs and reduced body weight loss upon virus challenge. Severe lung inflammation upon virus challenge was also strongly suppressed by vaccination. We also found that the S protein vaccine adjuvanted with Alhydrogel, Quil-A, or AddaS03 elicited significantly higher neutralizing antibody titers in mice than did unadjuvanted vaccine. Although the neutralizing antibody titers against the variant viruses B.1.351 and B.1.617.2 declined markedly in mice immunized with wild-type S protein, the binding antibody levels against the variant S proteins were equivalent to those against wild-type S. When splenocytes from the immunized mice were re-stimulated with the S protein in vitro, the induced Th1 or Th2 cytokine levels were not significantly different upon re-stimulation with wild-type S or variant S, suggesting that the T-cell responses against the variants were the same as those against the wild-type virus. Upon Omicron XBB-challenge in hamsters, wild-type S-vaccination with Alhydrogel or AddaS03 reduced lung virus titers on Day 3, and the Quil-A adjuvanted group showed less body weight loss, although serum neutralizing antibody titers against XBB were barely detected in vitro. Collectively, recombinant vaccines coupled with different adjuvants may be promising modalities to combat new variant viruses by inducing various arms of the immune response.