Nano-carrier DMSN for effective multi-antigen vaccination against SARS-CoV-2

• Published in: Journal of nanobiotechnology Vol. 22; no. 1; p. 11
• Main Authors: Sun, Peng, Cheng, Bingsheng, Ru, Jiaxi, Li, Xiaoyan, Fang, Guicun, Xie, Yinli, Shi, Guangjiang, Hou, Jichao, Zhao, Longwei, Gan, Lipeng, Ma, Lina, Liang, Chao, Chen, Yin, Li, Zhiyong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 03.01.2024; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Antibodies; Antibodies, Neutralizing; Antibodies, Viral; Antigen nanocarrier; Antigen-presenting cells; Antigenic determinants; Antigens; Biocompatibility; Biosafety; Chemical properties; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 Vaccines; Degradability; Disease transmission; DMSN; Drug delivery systems; Drugs; Efficiency; Epidemics; Epitopes; Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; Global health; Health aspects; Herd immunity; Humans; Humoral immunity; Immune response; Immune response (cell-mediated); Immune response (humoral); Immune system; Immunity; Immunization; Impact analysis; In vivo methods and tests; Infections; Lymph nodes; Lymphatic system; Lymphocytes T; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Microscopy; Nanoparticles; Neutralization; Pandemics; Peptides; Pharmaceutical research; Prevention; Proteins; Public health; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Silica; Spike protein; T cells; Vaccination; Vaccine; Vaccines; Vehicles; Viral diseases; World health; China; Nanoparticles; SARS-CoV-2; Vaccine; Antigen nanocarrier; DMSN
• ISSN: 1477-3155; 1477-3155
• DOI: 10.1186/s12951-023-02271-w

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has had a profound impact on the global health and economy. While mass vaccination for herd immunity is effective, emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants can evade spike protein-based COVID-19 vaccines. In this study, we develop a new immunization strategy by utilizing a nanocarrier, dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticle (DMSN), to deliver the receptor-binding domain (RBD) and conserved T-cell epitope peptides (DMSN-P-R), aiming to activate both humoral and cellular immune responses in the host. The synthesized DMSN had good uniformity and dispersion and showed a strong ability to load the RBD and peptide antigens, enhancing their uptake by antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and promoting antigen delivery to lymph nodes. The DMSN-P-R vaccine elicited potent humoral immunity, characterized by highly specific RBD antibodies. Neutralization tests demonstrated significant antibody-mediated neutralizing activity against live SARS-CoV-2. Crucially, the DMSN-P-R vaccine also induced robust T-cell responses that were specifically stimulated by the RBD and conserved T-cell epitope peptides of SARS-CoV-2. The DMSN demonstrated excellent biocompatibility and biosafety in vitro and in vivo, along with degradability. Our study introduces a promising vaccine strategy that utilizes nanocarriers to deliver a range of antigens, effectively enhancing both humoral and cellular immune responses to prevent virus transmission.