Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Aug;17(8):677-686.
doi: 10.1080/14760584.2018.1506702. Epub 2018 Aug 9.

Prospects for a MERS-CoV spike vaccine

Yusen Zhou  1 , Shibo Jiang  2   3 , Lanying Du  2
Affiliations
Review

Prospects for a MERS-CoV spike vaccine

Yusen Zhou et al. Expert Rev Vaccines. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

Introduction: Six years have passed since Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus (MERS-CoV), a newly emerging infectious virus, was first reported in 2012. Although MERS-CoV has had a consistently high mortality rate in humans, no vaccines have been approved to prevent MERS-CoV infection in humans. MERS-CoV spike (S) protein is a key target for development of MERS vaccines.

Areas covered: In this review, we illustrate the structure and function of S protein as a vaccine target, describe available animal models for evaluating MERS vaccines, and summarize recent progress on MERS-CoV S-based vaccines, focusing on their ability to elicit antibody and/or cellular immune responses, neutralizing antibodies, and protection against MERS-CoV infection in different models. Prospects for future MERS-CoV S-based vaccines are discussed.

Expert commentary: The majority of MERS vaccines under development are based on MERS-CoV S protein, including full-length S, S1, and receptor-binding domain (RBD). While it is essential to evaluate the safety of full-length S and S1-based MERS vaccines, further improvement of the efficacy of RBD-based vaccines using novel strategies would be necessary. Overall, this review provides informative guidance for designing and developing safe and effective MERS vaccines based on viral S protein.

Keywords: MERS; MERS-CoV; immune responses; neutralizing antibodies; protection; receptor-binding domain; spike protein; vaccine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
MERS-CoV and S protein structures and vaccine targets in MERS-CoV S protein. (A) Schematic structure of MERS-CoV and its key structural proteins, including S, N, M, and E proteins. (B) Schematic structure of MERS-CoV S protein and its functional regions. S protein is composed of S1 and S2 subunits. NTD, N-terminal domain. RBD, receptor-binding domain. RBM, receptor-binding motif. FP, fusion peptide. HR1 and HR2, heptad repeat 1 and 2 regions. TM, transmembrane. CP, cytoplasmic tail. (C) Key vaccine targets in MERS-CoV S protein and its fragments.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Zaki AM, van BS, Bestebroer TM, et al. Isolation of a novel coronavirus from a man with pneumonia in Saudi Arabia. N Engl J Med 2012;367(19):1814–20. - PubMed
    1. WHO. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). [cited 2018]. Available from: http://www.who.int/emergencies/mers-cov/en/.
    1. Chen X, Chughtai AA, Dyda A, et al. Comparative epidemiology of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Saudi Arabia and South Korea. Emerg Microbes Infect 2017;6(6):e51. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Saeed AA, Abedi GR, Alzahrani AG, et al. Surveillance and testing for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, Saudi Arabia, April 2015-February 2016. Emerg Infect Dis 2017;23(4):682–5. - PMC - PubMed
    1. WHO. List of Blueprint priority diseases. [cited 2018]. Available from: http://www.who.int/blueprint/priority-diseases/en/.

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

-