Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40461576›Full record

ArticleNPJ vaccines2025

Trans amplifying mRNA vaccine expressing consensus spike elicits broad neutralization of SARS CoV 2 variants.

Abhinay Gontu, Sougat Misra, Shubhada K Chothe, Santhamani Ramasamy, Padmaja Jakka, Maurice Byukusenge, Lindsey C LaBella, Meera Surendran Nair, Bhushan M Jayarao, Marco Archetti and 2 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in NPJ vaccines, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Abhinay GontuHuck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Sougat MisraDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Shubhada K ChotheDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Santhamani RamasamyDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Padmaja JakkaDepartment of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Maurice ByukusengeDepartment of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Lindsey C LaBellaDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Meera Surendran NairDepartment of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Bhushan M JayaraoDepartment of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Marco ArchettiHuck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Ruth H NisslyHuck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Suresh V KuchipudiDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. skuchipudi@pitt.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 continues to evolve and evade vaccine immunity necessitating vaccines that offer broad protection across variants. Conventional mRNA vaccines face cost and scalability challenges, prompting the exploration of alternative platforms like trans-amplifying (TA) mRNA that offer advantages in safety, manufacturability, and antigen dose optimization. Using consensus sequence of immunodominant antigens is a promising antigen design strategy for board cross-protection. Combining these two features, we designed and evaluated a TA mRNA vaccine encoding a consensus spike protein from SARS-CoV-2. Mice receiving the TA mRNA vaccine produced neutralizing antibody levels comparable to a conventional mRNA vaccine using 40 times less antigen mRNA. In hACE2 transgenic mice challenged with the Omicron BA.1 variant, the TA mRNA vaccine reduced lung viral titers by over 10-fold and induced broadly cross-neutralizing antibodies against multiple variants. These findings highlight the potential of TA mRNA vaccines with consensus antigen design, to improve efficacy and adaptability against SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Identifiers

PMID40461576
PMCPMC12134344

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.