Department of Chemical Biology
Yang's Lab,Department of Chemical Biology, Xiamen University
Home > News > Jialu Zhang's paper accepted by JACS

Professor Yang

Know more>> Professor Department of Chemical Biology, Xiamen University

Contact Information

Yang's Laboratory

Room 532, Lujiaxi Building, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China

Ph: +86 (0) 592-218 7601

Jialu Zhang's paper accepted by JACS

2022-11-12 13:37:39

Multivalent display of SARS-CoV-2 RBDs (receptor-binding domains, prime proteins for viral infection and as vaccine immunogens) affects infectivity and as immunogens on a virus-like particle (VLP) can enhance immune response. However, the viral attachment and immune response initiated by the copy number and distribution pattern of SARS-CoV-2 RBDs remain poorly understood. Here, we organize SARS-CoV-2 RBDs on DNA nanoballs of ∼74 nm diameter by an aptamer-guided assembly for a systematic interrogation. We find that both the affinity and the rate of the DNA-based VLP binding to the host cell increase with the RBD number (10–90). In addition, a concentrated RBD distribution promotes faster and stronger interaction to the host cell than an even RBD distribution. Moreover, it is interesting to learn that the immunity activation does not increase linearly with RBD numbers on the VLP. As few as 20 evenly distributed RBDs per VLP can elicit up to 86% immunity of macrophage cells. Overall, the work provides a new tool to study SARS-CoV-2 infection and VLP-based immunity activation, which should deepen our understanding of viral infection and facilitate the development of highly effective antiviral vaccines.