Nanoparticle that protects vaccine, developed by MIT engineers

Human mucosal surfaces, such as those in the reproductive tract, gastrointestinal tract and lungs are infected by many bacteria and viruses. Scientists are trying to invent a vaccine that can efficiently fight against these pathogens. A new type of nanonpracticle was developed by MIT engineers. It is considered that this protects the vaccine for generating a strong immune response. Darrell Irvine, an MIT professor of materials science and engineering and biological engineering and the leader of the research team states that this vaccine could efficiently fight against influenza or other respiratory disorders, human papilloma virus, herpes simplex virus or HIV. “This is a good example of a project where the same technology can be applied in cancer and in infectious disease. It`s a platform technology to deliver a vaccine of interest”, says Irvine, a member of MIT`s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, MIT and Harvard University. This study is published in Science Translational Medicine. The lead authors of this study are Adrienne Li, recent PhD recipient and James Moon, former MIT postdoc. Vaccines that are sturdier Irvine and his team of researchers developed nanoparticle for better vaccine delivery. “It`s like going from a soap bubble to a rubber tire. You have something that`s chemically much more resistant to disassembly”, said Irvine. Infection spreading is blocked Infected mice after receiving the nanopracticle presented effectiveness of vaccine but lost a small amount of weight after infection and then entirely recovered. “Giving the vaccine at the mucosal surface in the nanocapsule form allowed us to completely block that systemic infection”, said Irvine. Nanoparticles are “an exciting and effective strategy for including effector-memory T-cell responses to nonreplicating subunit vaccines through mucosal vaccination”, stated Melissa Herbts-Kralovetz, an assistant professor of basic medical sciences at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.