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Nanoparticles: potential in vaccine development
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Scientists in the University of Washington have used nanoparticle technology to immunise mice with what they term ‘just-in-time’ vaccines in a process that could revolutionise distribution and accessibility of vaccines if successfully extended to humans in the future. Current technologies rely on making batches of vaccines centrally and then distributing them to centres where they need to be used, with refrigeration required at all steps. The University of Washington researchers used rudimentary equipment and a single-pot process to produce their vaccine. If this could be extended to humans, it raises the possibility of making vaccines at the site at which they are needed. This would be especially advantageous in the developing world, allowing doctors and scientists locally to act to produce the necessary vaccines cheaply and easily at the first signs of an epidemic.

The University of Washington study, published this week in the journal Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine, used a fusion protein created between ovalbumin, which is often used as a model antigen in animal studies, and a calcium phosphate binding domain. This effectively created a mineralised biocompatible adjuvant in a single step. When administered to mice, this nanoparticle induced the production of an ovalbumin-specific antibody response and class-switch recombination. Importantly, when the mice were subsequently challenged with an influenza virus containing an ovalbumin-derived peptide, the mice produced substantially higher levels of ovalbumin-specific CD8 T cells- protective killer cells of the immune system- and a cytokine called interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) which is toxic to invading pathogens, compared to mice which received the protein in the absence of the nanoparticle. A robust immune response was observed 8 months after vaccination. The mechanism of action of the nanoparticle appears to reside in its ability to ferry antigen to the secondary lymph nodes, where immune reactions can be mounted. There they are detected by specialised immune cells called dendritic cells, which in turn can then present antigen to the immune killer cells such as CD8 T cells.

The strength of this technology lies in its simplicity, with production possible using rudimentary equipment, and lack of reliance on transport and refrigeration of vaccines. Production costs would be much lower and production could be tailored to match the vaccines to the relevant specific infectious agents at local level. Additionally, there is the possibility of administering vaccine via alternative methods to injection, such as a disposable patch. There is a long road ahead for this technology in terms of human testing but one day it may have a positive impact on vaccination programmes worldwide.

Sources

Zhou, W., Moguche, A.O., Chiu, D., Murali-Krishna, K. and Baneyx, F., 2013. Just-in-time vaccines: Biomineralized calcium phosphate core-immunogen shell nanoparticles induce long-lasting CD8 T cell responses in mice. Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine, 2013; DOI: 10.1016/j.nano.2013.11.007

University of Washington. "On-demand vaccines possible with engineered nanoparticles." [/align], 7 Jan. 2014. [Accessed 8 Jan. 2014]
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