Fig. 5: MVA-CoV2-S vaccination prevents SARS-CoV-2 brain infection.
a, Schematic diagram showing the schedule used to analyze the protection induced by MVA-CoV2-S vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 brain infection in K18-hACE2 mice. Note that MVA-CoV2-S was tested for a single SARS-CoV-2 infection (top, brain extraction at 4 dpi) or for a second reinfection (bottom, brain extraction at 6 dpi). b, High-magnification images from the cortex, hypothalamus and mesencephalon after SARS-CoV-2 N immunohistochemistry, illustrating the efficacy of the MVA-S vaccine candidate, in a regimen of one or two doses, against SARS-CoV-2 cerebral infection. SARS-CoV-2 N immunostaining was performed in five independent experiments obtaining similar results. c, Qualitative analysis of the level of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the different cerebral regions of the experimental groups showed in a. The number of mice showing SARS-CoV-2+ cells among the total number of mice studied is indicated for each brain region analyzed and shown in brackets. d–e, Quantitative analysis of SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected by RT–qPCR targeting the viral E gene, in the cortex and hypothalamus, of the experimental groups described previously for the SARS-CoV-2 infection (d) or reinfection (e) experiments. Data are presented as the mean ± s.e.m. SARS-CoV-2 infection experiment (4 dpi): MVA-WT, n = 9 (6 males and 3 females); MVA-S 1 dose, n = 9 (6 males and 3 females); MVA-S 2 doses, n = 3 females. SARS-CoV-2 reinfection experiment (6 dpi): MVA-WT, n = 5 females; SARS-CoV-2, n = 4 females; MVA-S 1 dose, n = 5 females; MVA-S 2 doses, n = 4 females. Kruskal–Wallis test with post hoc Dunn’s test (d,e). *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001, with regard to MVA-WT- or SARS-CoV-2-infected mice.
