Recent Developments of Nanovaccine Candidates on Immunology

A special issue of Pharmaceutics (ISSN 1999-4923). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanomedicine and Nanotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 December 2022) | Viewed by 8559

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Pediatric immunology lab, Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg Mainz University Langenbeckstrasse 1, 55131 Mainz, Germany
Interests: nanovaccines; drug delivery; mRNA-based therapies; immunology; nanoparticles

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Guest Editor
CEQUINOR (CONICET-CCT La Plata-UNLP), Bvd. 120 N°1465, B1900AVV La Plata, Argentina
Interests: nanoparticles; drug delivery; immunogenic cell death; metal-based drugs; cancer
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center, Langenbeckstrasse 1, 55131 Mainz, Germany
Interests: pediatric infectious diseases; pediatric immunology; experimental vaccines development

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The current pandemic has highlighted the relevance of vaccine development to defend against threats from different infectious agents. In this sense, nanomedicine has also shown how it can enhance vaccine related effects either through prophylactic or therapeutic approaches. The potential of nanocarriers to protect and deliver a cargo molecule to the precise site of action has recently become quite evident, allowing for the generation of superior immune system modulation among other effects. Moreover, very relevant discoveries made during the last decade regarding the molecular and cellular functionality of our immune system have opened new opportunities in the nanovaccines field that may be useful in efforts to tackle pathological disorders.

The scope of this Special Issue is focused on the development of novel nanocarrier-based strategies to induce antigen specific immune responses, which can be explored through in vitro and in vivo techniques. We encourage the submission of manuscripts that give detailed descriptions of the development of nanoparticle-based systems and of the studies performed to test their immune-related effects.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the development of novel and different types of nanoparticle-based formulations, cell-targeting approaches, strategies for immuno-modulation considering both stimulation or suppression of the immune system, studies considering the immunological effects of nanocarriers, and nanoformulation designs to fight inflammatory processes.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Maximiliano L. Cacicedo
Dr. Ignacio E. Leon
Dr. Stephan Gehring
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • nanovaccine
  • nanoparticles
  • drug delivery
  • nano-adjuvants
  • immune cells targeting
  • novel formulations for immunomulatory compounds

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3065 KiB  
Article
Design, Synthesis, Characterization, and Evaluation of the Anti-HT-29 Colorectal Cell Line Activity of Novel 8-Oxyquinolinate-Platinum(II)-Loaded Nanostructured Lipid Carriers Targeted with Riboflavin
by Tugce Boztepe, Sebastián Scioli-Montoto, Rocio C. Gambaro, María Esperanza Ruiz, Silvia Cabrera, José Alemán, Germán A. Islan, Guillermo R. Castro and Ignacio E. León
Pharmaceutics 2023, 15(3), 1021; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics15031021 - 22 Mar 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1679
Abstract
Colorectal cancer is occasionally called colon or rectal cancer, depending on where cancer begins to form, and is the second leading cause of cancer death among both men and women. The platinum-based [PtCl(8-O-quinolinate)(dmso)] (8-QO-Pt) compound has demonstrated encouraging anticancer activity. Three different systems [...] Read more.
Colorectal cancer is occasionally called colon or rectal cancer, depending on where cancer begins to form, and is the second leading cause of cancer death among both men and women. The platinum-based [PtCl(8-O-quinolinate)(dmso)] (8-QO-Pt) compound has demonstrated encouraging anticancer activity. Three different systems of 8-QO-Pt-encapsulated nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) with riboflavin (RFV) were investigated. NLCs of myristyl myristate were synthesized by ultrasonication in the presence of RFV. RFV-decorated nanoparticles displayed a spherical shape and a narrow size dispersion in the range of 144–175 nm mean particle diameter. The 8-QO-Pt-loaded formulations of NLC/RFV with more than 70% encapsulation efficiency showed sustained in vitro release for 24 h. Cytotoxicity, cell uptake, and apoptosis were evaluated in the HT-29 human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line. The results revealed that 8-QO-Pt-loaded formulations of NLC/RFV showed higher cytotoxicity than the free 8-QO-Pt compound at 5.0 µM. All three systems exhibited different levels of cellular internalization. Moreover, the hemotoxicity assay showed the safety profile of the formulations (less than 3.7%). Taken together, RFV-targeted NLC systems for drug delivery have been investigated for the first time in our study and the results are promising for the future of chemotherapy in colon cancer treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments of Nanovaccine Candidates on Immunology)
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16 pages, 3369 KiB  
Article
Expression and Evaluation of a Novel PPRV Nanoparticle Antigen Based on Ferritin Self-Assembling Technology
by Dan Li, Haozhi Song, Jialei Li, Xingjian Liu, Xintao Gao, Tong Wu, Zhifang Zhang and Yinü Li
Pharmaceutics 2022, 14(9), 1902; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics14091902 - 08 Sep 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1802
Abstract
Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) is a highly pathogenic disease that is classified as a World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)-listed disease. PPRV mainly infects small ruminants such as goats and sheep. In view of the global and high pathogenicity of PPRV, in [...] Read more.
Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) is a highly pathogenic disease that is classified as a World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)-listed disease. PPRV mainly infects small ruminants such as goats and sheep. In view of the global and high pathogenicity of PPRV, in this study, we proposed a novel nanoparticle vaccine strategy based on ferritin (Fe) self-assembly technology. Using Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) ferritin as an antigen delivery vector, a PPRV hemagglutinin (H) protein was fused with ferritin and then expressed and purified in both Escherichia coli (E. coli) and silkworm baculovirus expression systems. Subsequently, the nanoparticle antigens’ expression level, immunogenicity and protective immune response were evaluated. Our results showed that the PPRV hemagglutinin–ferritin (H-Fe) protein was self-assembled in silkworms, while it was difficult to observe the correctly folded nanoparticle in E. coli. Meanwhile, the expression level of the H-Fe protein was higher than that of the H protein alone. Furthermore, the immunogenicity and protective immune response of H-Fe nanoparticle antigens expressed by silkworms were improved compared with the H antigen alone. Particularly, the protective immune response of H-Fe antigens expressed in E. coli did not change, as opposed to the H antigen, which was probably due to the incomplete nanoparticle structure in E. coli. This study indicated that the use of ferritin nanoparticles as antigen delivery carriers could increase the expression of antigen proteins and improve the immunogenicity and immune effect of antigens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments of Nanovaccine Candidates on Immunology)
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19 pages, 3287 KiB  
Article
PEG Spacer Length Substantially Affects Antibody-Based Nanocarrier Targeting of Dendritic Cell Subsets
by Maximilian Brückner, Michael Fichter, Richard da Costa Marques, Katharina Landfester and Volker Mailänder
Pharmaceutics 2022, 14(8), 1614; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics14081614 - 02 Aug 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2060
Abstract
Successful cell targeting depends on the controlled positioning of cell-type-specific antibodies on the nanocarrier’s (NC) surface. Uncontrolled antibody immobilization results in unintended cell uptake due to Fc-mediated cell interaction. Consequently, precise immobilization of the Fc region towards the nanocarrier surface is needed with [...] Read more.
Successful cell targeting depends on the controlled positioning of cell-type-specific antibodies on the nanocarrier’s (NC) surface. Uncontrolled antibody immobilization results in unintended cell uptake due to Fc-mediated cell interaction. Consequently, precise immobilization of the Fc region towards the nanocarrier surface is needed with the Fab regions staying freely accessible for antigen binding. Moreover, the antibody needs to be a certain distance from the nanocarrier surface, influencing the targeting performance after formation of the biomolecular corona. This can be achieved by using PEG linker molecules. Here we demonstrate cell type-specific targeting for dendritic cells (DC) as cellular key regulators of immune responses. However, to date, dendritic cell targeting experiments using different linker lengths still need to be conducted. Consequently, we focused on the surface modification of nanocarriers with different molecular weight PEG linkers (0.65, 2, and 5 kDa), and their ability to reduce undesired cell uptake, while achieving efficient DC targeting via covalently immobilized antibodies (stealth targeting). Our findings demonstrate that the PEG linker length significantly affects active dendritic cell targeting from cell lines (DC2.4) to primary cells (BMDCs, splenocytic conventional DCs type 1 (cDC1)). While antibody-functionalized nanocarriers with a shorter PEG length (0.65 kDa) showed the best targeting in DC2.4, a longer PEG length (5 kDa) was required to specifically accumulate in BMDCs and splenocytic cDC1. Our study highlights that these crucial aspects must be considered when targeting dendritic cell subsets, which are of great importance in the fields of cancer immunotherapy and vaccine development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments of Nanovaccine Candidates on Immunology)
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19 pages, 3884 KiB  
Article
Nanostructured Lipid Carriers Loaded with Dexamethasone Prevent Inflammatory Responses in Primary Non-Parenchymal Liver Cells
by Carolina Medina-Montano, Ignacio Rivero Berti, Rocío C. Gambaro, María José Limeres, Malin Svensson, Gisel Padula, Cecilia Y. Chain, José Sebastián Cisneros, Guillermo R. Castro, Stephan Grabbe, Matthias Bros, Stephan Gehring, German A. Islan and Maximiliano L. Cacicedo
Pharmaceutics 2022, 14(8), 1611; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics14081611 - 02 Aug 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2424
Abstract
Liver inflammation represents a major clinical problem in a wide range of pathologies. Among the strategies to prevent liver failure, dexamethasone (DXM) has been widely used to suppress inflammatory responses. The use of nanocarriers for encapsulation and sustained release of glucocorticoids to liver [...] Read more.
Liver inflammation represents a major clinical problem in a wide range of pathologies. Among the strategies to prevent liver failure, dexamethasone (DXM) has been widely used to suppress inflammatory responses. The use of nanocarriers for encapsulation and sustained release of glucocorticoids to liver cells could provide a solution to prevent severe side effects associated with systemic delivery as the conventional treatment regime. Here we describe a nanostructured lipid carrier developed to efficiently encapsulate and release DXM. This nano-formulation proved to be stable over time, did not interact in vitro with plasma opsonins, and was well tolerated by primary non-parenchymal liver cells (NPCs). Released DXM preserved its pharmacological activity, as evidenced by inducing robust anti-inflammatory responses in NPCs. Taken together, nanostructured lipid carriers may constitute a reliable platform for the delivery of DXM to treat pathologies associated with chronic liver inflammation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments of Nanovaccine Candidates on Immunology)
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