Anti-SARS-CoV immunity induced by a novel CpG oligodeoxynucleotide

To develop CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG ODNs) based therapy for prevention and treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), we selected a novel CpG ODN (BW001), which displays B-type CpG ODN structure feature at the 5′ and A-type CpG ODN structure feature at the 3′, and tested for its anti-SARS-CoV activity. We found that the supernatants of human PBMCs stimulated by BW001 significantly protected Vero cells from SARS-CoV infection. BW001 could stimulate human PBMCs and pDCs to secrete high level of IFN-α and promote human PBMCs and B cells to proliferate. Furthermore, we demonstrated that BW001 could activate CD19+ B cells and CD56+ NK cells in human PBMCs. In addition, BW001 could enhance NK cytotoxicity and IFN-γ secretion in human PBMCs. Together, BW001 represents a novel type of CpG ODN and may have potential for the development of treatment and prevention for SARS as well as other viral associated diseases.