Human H-ferritin presenting RBM of spike glycoprotein as potential vaccine of SARS-CoV-2

Yao, Dehui; Lao, Fang; Zhang, Zeyi; Liu, Yan; Cheng, Jianwei; Ding, Fengjiao; Wang, Xiaofei; Xi, Lun; Wang, Chuang; Yan, Xichong; Zhang, Rongkun; Ouyang, Fangxing; Ding, Hui; Ke, Tianyi

The outbreak of COVID-19 has so far inflicted millions of people all around the world and will have a long lasting effect on every aspect of everyone’s life. Yet there is no effective approved treatment for the disease. In an effort of utilizing human ferritin as nanoplatform for drug delivery, we engineered a fusion protein by presenting receptor-binding motif (RBM) of SARS-CoV-2 virus spike glycoprotein on the N-terminus of ferritin subunits. The designed fusion protein with a cage-like structure, similar to that of corona virus, is a potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. We hereby show the construction, preparation, and characterization of the fusion protein RBM-HFtn. Our initial affinity study confirmed its biological activity towards ACE2 receptor which suggests its mode of action against SARS-CoV-2 could be either through vaccine therapy or blocking the cellular entry of virus as antagonist of ACE2 receptor.