Many previous work on particulate vaccines has relied on protein scaffolds, however the proteins utilized in those vaccines tend to generate an unnecessary immune reaction that can sidetrack the immune system from the target.In the mouse research study, the scientists found that the DNA scaffold does not cause an immune response, permitting the immune system to focus its antibody response on the target antigen. Particulate vaccines have actually been developed for a handful of pathogens, including hepatitis B and human papillomavirus, and a particle vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 has been approved for use in South Korea.These vaccines are especially excellent at activating B cells, which produce antibodies specific to the vaccine antigen.”Particulate vaccines are of terrific interest for many in immunology because they give you robust humoral immunity, which is antibody-based immunity, which is differentiated from the T-cell-based immunity that the mRNA vaccines appear to elicit more strongly,” Bathe says.A potential downside to this kind of vaccine, however, is that the proteins used for the scaffold frequently stimulate the body to produce antibodies targeting the scaffold.
Most previous work on particulate vaccines has actually relied on protein scaffolds, however the proteins used in those vaccines tend to create an unnecessary immune response that can distract the immune system from the target.In the mouse research study, the researchers discovered that the DNA scaffold does not induce an immune reaction, allowing the immune system to focus its antibody reaction on the target antigen. Particulate vaccines have been established for a handful of pathogens, consisting of liver disease B and human papillomavirus, and a particulate vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 has actually been authorized for usage in South Korea.These vaccines are particularly good at activating B cells, which produce antibodies specific to the vaccine antigen.”Particulate vaccines are of terrific interest for numerous in immunology since they provide you robust humoral immunity, which is antibody-based immunity, which is distinguished from the T-cell-based resistance that the mRNA vaccines seem to generate more highly,” Bathe says.A possible downside to this kind of vaccine, however, is that the proteins used for the scaffold frequently stimulate the body to produce antibodies targeting the scaffold. When they provided the vaccine to mice, they discovered that the mice generated high levels of antibodies to the spike protein but did not produce any to the DNA scaffold.In contrast, a vaccine based on a scaffold protein called ferritin, coated with SARS-CoV-2 antigens, generated numerous antibodies versus ferritin as well as SARS-CoV-2.”Reducing these off-target impacts could also help researchers reach the objective of establishing a vaccine that would induce broadly reducing the effects of antibodies to any variation of SARS-CoV-2, or even to all sarbecoviruses, the subgenus of virus that consists of SARS-CoV-2 as well as the viruses that cause SARS and MERS.To that end, the scientists are now checking out whether a DNA scaffold with many different viral antigens connected could cause broadly reducing the effects of antibodies versus SARS-CoV-2 and related viruses.Reference: “Enhancing antibody responses by multivalent antigen display on thymusindependent DNA origami scaffolds” 30 January 2024, Nature Communications.DOI: 10.1038/ s41467-024-44869-0The research was mainly moneyed by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Fast Grants program.