Immune response induced by oral administration with a Saccharomyces cerevisiae-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in mice

Background The global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) highlights the need to develop safe and effective vaccines with a top priority. Multiple vaccine candidates are under development, and several vaccines are currently available. Efforts need to be undertaken to counter the threat of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Results We generated a Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae)-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, EBY100/pYD1-RBD, in which the full-length receptor binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 was expressed on the surface of yeast. Mice vaccinated orally with unadjuvanted EBY100/pYD1-RBD could produce significant humoral and mucosal responses as well as robust cellular immune responses. Notably, EBY100/pYD1-RBD elicited a mixed Th1/Th2-type cellular immune response with a Th1-biased immune response in a mouse model. Conclusions Our findings highlight the importance of the RBD as a key target to design and develop vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and provide evidence of oral administration of a S. cerevisiae-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine eliciting significant immune responses. Most importantly, the S. cerevisiae surface display system can serve as a universal technology platform and be applied to develop other oral viral or bacterial vaccines.