Cell Wei Wensheng's research group reported the circular RNA technology platform and the new anti-new coronavirus vaccine developed accordingly

On March 31, 2022, Peking University Wei Wensheng's research group published a research paper online entitledCircular RNA Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and Emerging Variants in the journal Cell , reporting the circular RNA vaccine technology platform for the first time, and the development of the technology based on it.

Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the development of circRNA vaccine for 2019-nCoV

As a breakthrough medical technology emerging in recent years, the basic principle of mRNA vaccine is to express antigen protein by introducing mRNA into the body through lipid nanoparticles (LNP) to stimulate the body to produce a specific immune response

Figure 2 CircRNA vaccination provides significant protection in mice and rhesus monkeys

A series of comparative evaluations showed that compared with mRNA vaccines, circRNA vaccines have the following characteristics or advantages (Figure 3): 1) circRNAs have higher stability and can generate higher levels and more durable antigens in vivo; 2) The circRNA vaccine induces a higher proportion of neutralizing antibodies in the body, which can more effectively fight against virus mutation and reduce the potential side effects of antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) of the vaccine; 3) The ratio of IgG2/IgG1 induced by circRNA vaccine is higher, indicating that It mainly induces a Th1-type protective T cell immune response, which can effectively reduce the potential side effects of vaccine-associated respiratory diseases (VAERD, Vaccine-associated enhanced respiratory diseases)

Figure 3 Features and advantages of circRNA vaccines (compared to mRNA vaccines)

In addition, after the new coronavirus Omicron mutant was listed as a Variants of Concern (VOC) by the World Health Organization, the research team urgently launched the development of a circular RNA vaccine for the mutant

Figure 4 The circRNARBD-Delta vaccine designed for the new coronavirus delta variant is a candidate vaccine with broad-spectrum protection

　　The above results show that the circRNARBD-Delta vaccine designed for the delta variant of the new coronavirus is a candidate vaccine for new coronary pneumonia with broad-spectrum protection.

　　Quan Liang, a postdoctoral fellow in Wei Wensheng's research group at Peking University, and Yi Zongyi and Shen Yong, a doctoral student, are the co-first authors of the paper

　　Paper link: https://