2. Academic Validation
  3. A Synergistic Lipid Nanoparticle Encapsulating mRNA Shingles Vaccine Induces Potent Immune Responses and Protects Guinea Pigs from Viral Challenges

A Synergistic Lipid Nanoparticle Encapsulating mRNA Shingles Vaccine Induces Potent Immune Responses and Protects Guinea Pigs from Viral Challenges

  • Adv Mater. 2024 Mar;36(13):e2310886. doi: 10.1002/adma.202310886.
Xingdi Cheng 1 2,  Sujia Liu 3,  Jing Sun 4,  Lin Liu 3,  Xinghuan Ma 3,  Jingjiao Li 1 2,  Bangda Fan 3,  Chen Yang 1 2,  Yuanyuan Zhao 1 2,  Shuai Liu 1,  Yixing Wen 1 2,  Wei Li 1 2,  Simin Sun 1,  Shiwei Mi 1 2,  Haonan Huo 1 2,  Lei Miao 5,  Hao Pan 6,  Xiaolan Cui 4,  Jiaqi Lin 3,  Xueguang Lu 1 2
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, CAS Key Laboratory of Colloid, Interface and Chemical Thermodynamics, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
  • 2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
  • 3 MOE Key Laboratory of Bio-Intelligent Manufacturing, School of Bioengineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China.
  • 4 Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China.
  • 5 State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China.
  • 6 Proxybio Therapeutics Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, 518001, China.
PMID: 38145557 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202310886
Abstract

Shingles is caused by the reactivation of varicella zoster virus (VZV) and manifests as painful skin rashes. While the recombinant protein-based vaccine proves highly effective, it encounters supply chain challenges due to a shortage of the necessary Adjuvant. Messenger RNA (mRNA)-based vaccines can be rapidly produced on a large scale, but their effectiveness relies on efficient delivery and sequence design. Here, an mRNA-based VZV vaccine using a synergistic lipid nanoparticle (Syn-LNP) containing two different ionizable lipids is developed. Syn-LNP shows superior mRNA expression compared to LNPs formulated with either type of ionizable lipid and to a commercialized LNP. After encapsulating VZV glycoprotein E (gE)-encoding mRNA, mgE@Syn-LNP induces robust humoral and cellular immune responses in two strains of mice. The magnitude of these responses is similar to that induced by adjuvanted recombinant gE proteins and significantly higher than that observed with live-attenuated VZV. mgE@Syn-LNP exhibits durable humoral responses for over 7 months without obvious adverse effects. In addition, mgE@Syn-LNP protects vaccinated guinea pigs against live VZV challenges. Preliminary studies on the mRNA antigen design reveal that the removal of glycosylation sites of gE greatly reduces its immune responses. Collectively, Syn-LNP encapsulating gE-encoded mRNA holds great promise as a shingles vaccine.

Keywords

glycoprotein; lipid nanoparticle; mRNA; shingles vaccines.

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