| Title |
Innate immune mechanisms triggered by SARS-CoV-2 virus-like particles: role of antibody opsonization |
| Authors |
Lučiūnaitė, Asta ; Usvaltas, Mantvydas ; Mačiulis, Vincentas Mindaugas ; Plikusienė, Ieva |
| DOI |
10.1021/acsabm.6c00372.s001 |
| Full Text |
|
| Is Part of |
ACS Applied bio materials.. Washington : American Chemical Society. 2026, vol. 9, iss. 12, p. 5196-5215.. eISSN 2576-6422 |
| Keywords [eng] |
antibody ; viral antigen ; immune complex ; biosensing ; macrophage |
| Abstract [eng] |
The rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 highlighted the need to understand the nature of innate immune signaling. We used virus-like particles (VLPs) composed of SARS-CoV-2 structural pro- teins, spike, envelope, membrane, and nucleocapsid, mimicking the virus to study macrophage responses to VLPs and their immune com- plexes (ICs), which represent antibody-opsonized particles cleared by innate immune cells. We assessed antibody affinity and IC properties using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D). Human THP-1-derived macrophages treated with VLPs or ICs showed inflammatory activation, including inflammasome signaling, chemo- kine receptor expression, and antigen-presentation-related markers CD86/CD83. Notably, ICs triggered lower chemokine secretion but similar TNF-α release and enhanced IL-1β production, with increased ASC protein expression in some cases. These findings reveal distinct macrophage responses to viral antigens vs ICs, emphasi- zing IC-driven inflammasome activation during SARS- CoV-2 infection, independent of chemokine secretion profiles. |
| Published |
Washington : American Chemical Society |
| Type |
Journal article |
| Language |
English |
| Publication date |
2026 |
| CC license |
|
