Tuesday, January 04, 2022

Immune system-stimulating nanoparticle could lead to more powerful vaccines

Recommendable! This seems to be a promising approach! Vaccine adjuvants are getting more sophisticated.

"... Although the idea of using adjuvants to boost vaccine effectiveness has been around for decades, there are only a handful of FDA-approved vaccine adjuvants. One is aluminum hydroxide, an aluminum salt that induces inflammation, and another is an oil and water emulsion that is used in flu vaccines. ...
They designed a new type of adjuvant that is similar to the ISCOM adjuvant but also incorporates a molecule called MPLA, which is a toll-like receptor agonist. When these molecules bind to toll-like receptors on immune cells, they promote inflammation. The researchers call their new adjuvant SMNP (saponin/MPLA nanoparticles). ...
Another way that the adjuvant helps boost immune responses is by activating inflammatory cytokines that drive a stronger response. The TLR agonist that the researchers included in the adjuvant is believed to amplify that cytokine response, but the exact mechanism for that is not known yet. ..."

Immune system-stimulating nanoparticle could lead to more powerful vaccines | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology The potent new adjuvant could be used to help make vaccines against HIV and other infectious diseases.

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