Intranasal immunization with live-attenuated RSV-vectored SARS-CoV-2 vaccines elicits antigen-specific systemic and mucosal immunity and protects against viral challenge and natural infection
lung-resident memory T cells. Although MV-014-212-delta vaccination provided the best protection against Delta variant virus challenge, both vaccines decreased viral loads in nasal discharge, lung and brain, and reduced weight loss and mortality. In naturally acquired infection studies, vaccinated hamsters exposed to infected cagemates exhibited minimal weight loss, limited viral replication within the nasal mucosa, and attenuated lung pathology. Therefore, intranasal RSV-vectored vaccines can elicit broad protective respiratory immunity, suggesting that this platform could be leveraged for other respiratory pathogens.
Authors
- Troy D. Randall (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0643-0311)
- R. Glenn King (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6522-0053)
- Davide Botta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3926-0662)
- Jeremy B. Foote (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6621-6096)
- Kevin S. Harrod (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0780-9470)
- Roderick S. Tang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0018-4869)
- Michael D. Schultz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6741-4115)
- T. Green
- Mariana F. Tioni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7865-3023)
- Aarón Silva-Sánchez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1882-2534)
- Jobaida Akther (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3096-3663)
- Shannon I. Phan
- Frances E. Lund (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3083-1246)
- Jennifer L. Tipper
- Levi Schaefers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0822-0257)
- Christopher M. Weiss (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4704-9533)
- Martin L. Moore (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8888-2196)
- Shihong Qiu
- Davies Kalange
- Sixto M Leal
- Fen Zhou
- Guang Yang
- Courtney A Barkley
Institutions
- University of Alabama at Birmingham (US)
- Meissa Vaccines (United States) (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
- Published
- 2026-03-31
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.30.715311
- Primary Topic
- SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Emory University
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases