Science Daily May 3, 2021
Soluble protein vaccines are poorly immunogenic if administered by an intranasal route. A team of researchers in the US (Georgia State University, Emory University) developed an intranasal influenza vaccine using recombinant hemagglutinin (HA), a protein found on the surface of influenza viruses, as the antigen component of the vaccine. HA is integral to the ability of influenza virus to cause infection. They also created a two-dimensional nanomaterial (polyethyleneimine-functionalized graphene oxide nanoparticles) and found that it displayed potent immunoenhancing effects on influenza vaccines delivered intranasally. The study, conducted in mice and cell culture, found the nanoparticles significantly enhanced immune responses at mucosal surfaces and throughout the body in mice. This study gives new insights into developing high performance intranasal vaccine systems with two-dimensional sheet-like nanoparticles. The graphene oxide nanoparticles have extraordinary attributes for drug delivery or vaccine development and the vaccine showed superior immunoenhancing properties in vitro and in vivo. The nanoplatform could be easily adapted for constructing mucosal vaccines for different respiratory pathogens…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Cellular immune responses. Credit: PNAS May 11, 2021 118 (19) e2024998118Â