Nanoparticles Offer Promising Platform for Flavivirus Treatment
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Researchers have shown that nanoparticles decorated with Dengue virus 2nd serotype is an effective platform to increase immune responses targeted against secreted recombinant proteins. Using this strategy, it was possible to induce long lasting serotype specific neutralizing antibody responses by increasing the bio-availability of the antigen.
Abstract:
Dengue virus (DENV) is the causative agent of dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever. The virus is endemic in over 120 countries, causing over 350 million infections per year. Dengue vaccine development is challenging because of the need to induce simultaneous protection against four antigenically distinct DENV serotypes and evidence that, under some conditions, vaccination can enhance disease due to specific immunity to the virus. While several live-attenuated tetravalent dengue virus vaccines display partial efficacy, it has been challenging to induce balanced protective immunity to all 4 serotypes. Instead of using whole-virus formulations, we are exploring the potentials for a particulate subunit vaccine, based on DENV E-protein displayed on nanoparticles that have been precisely molded using PRINT technology. Here we describe immunization studies with a DENV2-nanoparticle vaccine candidate. The ectodomain of DENV2-E protein was expressed as a secreted recombinant protein (sRecE), purified and adsorbed to poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles of different sizes and shape. We show that PRINT nanoparticle adsorbed sRecE without any adjuvant induces higher IgG titers and a more potent DENV2-specific neutralizing antibody response compared to the soluble sRecE protein alone. Antigen trafficking indicate that PRINT nanoparticle display of sRecE prolongs the bio-availability of the antigen in the draining lymph nodes by creating an antigen depot. Our results demonstrate that PRINT nanoparticles are a promising platform for delivering subunit vaccines against flaviviruses such as dengue and Zika.
The article Precisely Molded Nanoparticle Displaying DENV-E Proteins Induces Robust Serotype-Specific Neutralizing Antibody Responses is published online in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases and is available free of charge.
Reference:
Metz et al, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, (2016) http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005071
