A TLR7-nanoparticle adjuvant promotes a broad immune response against heterologous strains of influenza and SARS-CoV-2

  • Qian Yin
  • , Wei Luo
  • , Vamsee Mallajosyula
  • , Yang Bo
  • , Jing Guo
  • , Jinghang Xie
  • , Meng Sun
  • , Rohit Verma
  • , Chunfeng Li
  • , Christian M. Constantz
  • , Lisa E. Wagar
  • , Jing Li
  • , Elsa Sola
  • , Neha Gupta
  • , Chunlin Wang
  • , Oliver Kask
  • , Xin Chen
  • , Xue Yuan
  • , Nicholas C. Wu
  • , Jianghong Rao
  • Yueh hsiu Chien, Jianjun Cheng, Bali Pulendran, Mark M. Davis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The ideal vaccine against viruses such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2 must provide a robust, durable and broad immune protection against multiple viral variants. However, antibody responses to current vaccines often lack robust cross-reactivity. Here we describe a polymeric Toll-like receptor 7 agonist nanoparticle (TLR7-NP) adjuvant, which enhances lymph node targeting, and leads to persistent activation of immune cells and broad immune responses. When mixed with alum-adsorbed antigens, this TLR7-NP adjuvant elicits cross-reactive antibodies for both dominant and subdominant epitopes and antigen-specific CD8+ T-cell responses in mice. This TLR7-NP-adjuvanted influenza subunit vaccine successfully protects mice against viral challenge of a different strain. This strategy also enhances the antibody response to a SARS-CoV-2 subunit vaccine against multiple viral variants that have emerged. Moreover, this TLR7-NP augments antigen-specific responses in human tonsil organoids. Overall, we describe a nanoparticle adjuvant to improve immune responses to viral antigens, with promising implications for developing broadly protective vaccines.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)380-390
Number of pages11
JournalNature Materials
Volume22
Issue number3
Early online dateJan 30 2023
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2023

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering

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