The development of vaccines is a crucial response against the COVID-19 pandemic and innovative nanovaccines could increase the potential to address this remarkable challenge. In the present study a B cell epitope (S
461–493
) from the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 was selected and its immunogenicity validated in sheep. This synthetic peptide was coupled to gold nanoparticles (AuNP) functionalized with SH-PEG-NH
2
via glutaraldehyde-mediated coupling to obtain the AuNP-S
461–493
candidate, which showed in s.c.-immunized mice a superior immunogenicity (IgG responses) when compared to soluble S
461–493
; and lead to increased expression of relevant cytokines in splenocytes cultures. Interestingly, the response triggered by AuNP-S
461–493
was similar in magnitude to that induced using a conventional strong adjuvant (Freund's adjuvant). This study provides a platform for the development of AuNP-based nanovaccines targeting specific SARS-CoV-2 epitopes.
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