Design and generation of mRNAs encoding conserved regions of SARS-CoV-2 ORF1ab for T cell-mediated immune activation

AIM: To generate mRNAs encoding conserved regions within SARS-CoV-2 ORF1ab which can induce strong T-cell responses to overcome the immune invasion of newly emergent variants. METHODS: We selected two conserved regions with a high density of T-cell epitopes using immunoinformatics for mRNA synthesis. The ability of testing mRNAs to activate T cells for IFN-γ production was examined by an ELISpot assay and flow cytometry. RESULTS: Two synthesized mRNAs were successfully translated in MDA-MB-231 cells and had comparable potency to the spike mRNA to induce CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cell responses in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in 29 out of 34 participants. CONCLUSION: This study provides a proof-of-concept for the use of SARS-CoV-2 conserved regions to develop booster vaccines capable of eliciting T-cell-mediated immunity.