Mark E. Peeples, PhD

The Peeples’ lab is working to understand respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the most prominent cause of hospitalization for children. Starting with “progenitor” cells that they isolate from airways, they develop mucus-producing and cilia-waving cells. The RSV attachment glycoprotein (G) attaches RSV to ciliated cells and they have identified a virus receptor on these cells. After attaching to the cell, the viral membrane fuses with the target cell membrane, spilling the viral genome into the cell to initiate infection. They are studying both the attachment by the G protein and the fusion, driven by the RSV fusion (F) protein. F dramatically refolds to reach out to the cell membrane, grab it, and continuing to refold, pulling the two membranes together and causing them to fuse. They are working to identify the “trigger” point on the RSV F protein and what interaction initiates this refolding. In collaboration with six other labs, they are developing novel live attenuated vaccine candidates for RSV, the most common cause of hospitalization for young children in the US. They recently published their first candidate RSV vaccine, finding that a low dose of vaccine efficiently induced antibodies and was highly protective in animals.

When COVID19 appeared, the Peeples’ lab shifted much of their effort toward understanding its cause, SARS-CoV-2, and how to stop it. They have made progress in understanding how the virus initiates infection of ciliated airway cells, and measured the amounts, effectiveness, and lifespan of serum antibodies to its “Spike” protein, in infected and vaccinated people. Working with colleagues at OSU and at NCH, they have developed several vaccine candidates that use the measles vaccine virus to deliver the Spike protein to the immune system. Measles vaccine is extremely safe, cheap to produce, and protects people long-term. Maybe their candidate COVID vaccines will have some of these advantages. They do induce high levels of antibodies in mice and protect hamsters from SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease. Their group is continuing to improve their vaccine candidates by modifying the Spike protein.

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Mark E. Peeples, PhD, is a principal investigator and member of the Center for Vaccines and Immunity at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, and a professor of Pediatrics and of Molecular & Cellular Biochemistry at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Peeples' research focus is respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) pathogenesis and protection. RSV is the number one cause of hospitalization of children in the developed world and the cause of over 100,000 infant deaths in the developing world, as well as a major cause of death in the elderly, just behind influenza virus. His NIH-funded research is solving the mysteries of the first two steps of RSV infection, attachment and fusion. The two proteins that perform these critical functions are the major targets for vaccine development and for antiviral drug development. Dr. Peeples' lab is also works with pharmaceutical partners in these endeavors.