Nanoparticle vaccine generates Covid-19 immunity in mice after a single dose, as study reports show

Jan. 12, 2021 11:21:43 AM IST

Scientists have shown that a single-dose Covid-19 vaccine candidate that could potentially be stored at room temperature can induce immunity to the novel coronavirus in mice. The vaccine, described by doing ACS Central Science Newspaper, contains ultra-small nanoparticles that are littered with the coronavirus spike proteins that allow it to enter host cells. “Our goal is to make a vaccine with a single injection that doesn’t require a cold chain to be stored or transported. If we can do it well, it should also be cheap, ”said study co-author Peter Kim of Stanford University in the USA.

“The target audience for our vaccine are low and middle income countries,” added Kim. Viral vaccines that use viruses to deliver immune proteins are often more effective than those that contain only pieces of protein isolated from a virus, researchers say. They said nanoparticle vaccines balanced the effectiveness of virus-based vaccines with the safety and ease of making protein vaccines.

To develop the vaccine, the scientists first removed a section near the bottom of the coronavirus spike protein and combined it with ferritin nanoparticles – an iron-containing protein – that had already been tested in humans. Man. In the following tests on mice, the researchers compared their truncated nanoparticles to four other possible variations: full-tipped, full-tipped, or partial-tipped nanoparticles with no nanoparticles, and a vaccine that contains only the portion of the peak that binds to cells during infection.

The scientists then tested the effectiveness of these vaccines against a safer pseudo-coronavirus that was modified to transport the spike proteins. They determined the potential effectiveness of each vaccine by monitoring levels of virus-neutralizing antibodies produced in the mouse’s immune system. After a single dose, the study found that two nanoparticle-based vaccine candidates produced neutralizing antibodies that were at least twice as high as those found in people with Covid-19.

According to the scientists, the truncated tip nanoparticle vaccine produced a significantly higher neutralization response than either the binding tip vaccine or the full tip vaccine. After a second dose, they said the mice that received the truncated tip nanoparticle vaccine had the highest levels of neutralizing antibodies. Based on the results, the Stanford scientists said their nanoparticle vaccine could induce Covid-19 immunity after a single dose.

Scientists believe the vaccine could also be stored at room temperature and are looking into whether it can be shipped and stored as a lyophilized powder. “It’s really an early stage and there is still a lot to be done,” said Abigail Powell, lead author on the study. The researchers hope to improve the nanoparticle-based vaccine candidate to bring it closer to the first human clinical trials.

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