MIT researchers design more powerful RNA vaccines for COVID-19
12 Sep 2023
VaccinemRNAClinical Study
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Source: PMLiVE
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have designed a more powerful COVID-19 RNA vaccine to produce a stronger immune response, at a lower dose, in mice.
In the study funded by the National Institutes of Health and Translate Bio, the researchers engineered both the nanoparticles used to deliver the COVID-19 antigen and the antigen itself to boost immune response without needing a separate adjuvant.
RNA vaccines consist of a strand of RNA that encodes a viral bacterial protein, also known as an antigen. For COVID-19 vaccines, this RNA codes for a segment of the virus’s spike protein.
First focusing on a protein called C3d, which binds antigens and amplifies antibody responses to them in the immune response, the researchers employed two different strategies to boost immune response. They designed the mRNA to encode the C3d protein to fuse with the antigen to be produced as one protein by cells that receive the vaccine.
In the second phase of their strategy, the researchers created a library of 480 nanoparticles and modified them to be used to deliver the RNA vaccine to stimulate a stronger immune response.
After testing on mice, the new vaccine produced ten times more antibodies compared to mice given the unadjuvanted COVID-19 RNA vaccines and provoked a stronger response among T cells, which play an important role in combating the SarS-CoV-2 virus.
When administered intranasally, researchers discovered a similarly strong immune response in the mice when compared to the traditional intramuscular vaccination.
Intranasal vaccination could potentially eradicate COVID-19 at the mucus membrane before it enters the body and "may also be easier to administer to many people since they don’t require an injection," explained senior author of the study, Daniel Anderson.
"For the first time, we’ve demonstrated a synergistic boost in immune responses by engineering both the RNA and its delivery vehicles," said Bowen Li, lead author of the new study.
This new type of RNA vaccine offers the potential to reduce the burden of costs and dosages needed and could lead to longer-lasting immunity.
The researchers also plan to test the effectiveness and safety of the new vaccine formulation, alongside health care companies, in large animal models to eventually test on human patients.
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