Advances in the Use of Nanoparticles for Vaccine Platform Development: 2nd Edition

A special issue of Vaccines (ISSN 2076-393X). This special issue belongs to the section "Vaccine Design, Development, and Delivery".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 181

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK
Interests: drug delivery; polymer and lipid based nanocarrier delivery systems; pulmonary drug delivery; biopharmaceuticals and vaccines delivery systems for human and veterinary use
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Vaccination is effective in preventing diseases worldwide. Over the years, new vaccine candidates have been developed, including nucleic acids and subunit vaccines, that incorporate only specific components of pathogens. These innovations have led to vaccines that induce specific immune responses with fewer side effects. However, newer-generation vaccines sometimes show lower immunogenicity. To address this, nanoparticle-based formulations—such as polymeric nanoparticles, virosomes, and lipid nanoparticles—enhance the induction of robust immune responses. These nanoparticle delivery systems protect vaccine candidates, improve their stability, prevent degradation, and have adjuvant properties that enhance immunogenicity. They effectively target antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and can elicit innate, humoral, cellular, or mucosal immune responses, with the flexibility for various administration routes. As research on nanoparticle-based vaccines progresses, reproducible and scalable manufacturing methods are also advancing.

This Special Issue invites original research and review articles focusing on the preclinical and clinical development of advanced nanoparticle delivery systems. These may include liposomes; lipid-based, polymeric, gold, inorganic, and biomimetic nanoparticles; virus-like particles; self-assembled proteins; and other forms, including carbon-based nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes and graphene.

Prof. Dr. Imran Saleem
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Vaccines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nanoparticles
  • vaccine
  • immunotherapy
  • subunit vaccine
  • RNA vaccine
  • adjuvant
  • nanotechnology

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Research

23 pages, 2854 KB  
Article
Production of Clinical-Grade SARS-CoV-2 Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle Protein Immunogen by Transient Transfection
by Agnes Hajduczki, William C. Chang, Rafael De La Barrera, James F. Wood, Wei-Hung Chen, Elizabeth J. Martinez, Jaime L. Jensen, Rajeshwer S. Sankhala, Clayton Smith, Alexander Anderson, Elaine B. Morrison, Caroline E. Peterson, Phyllis A. Rees, Sandrine Soman, Caitlin Kuklis, Aslaa Ahmed, Jocelyn King, Farooq Nasar, Courtney Corbitt, Misook Choe, Paul V. Thomas, Michelle Zemil, Lindsay Wieczorek, Victoria R. Polonis, Helen M. Dooley, John R. Mascola, Natalie de Val, Gary R. Matyas, Mangala Rao, Gregory D. Gromowski, Kayvon Modjarrad, Sandhya Vasan, Jeffrey W. Froude, Nelson L. Michael, M. Gordon Joyce and Stasya Zarlingadd Show full author list remove Hide full author list
Vaccines 2025, 13(10), 1041; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines13101041 - 9 Oct 2025
Abstract
Background/Objectives: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we developed a vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2. Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle (SpFN) comprises 24 identical prefusion-stabilized spike proteins anchored to a self-assembled nanoparticle. Organized along the three-fold axis of the ferritin particle, eight SARS-CoV-2 spike trimers [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we developed a vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2. Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle (SpFN) comprises 24 identical prefusion-stabilized spike proteins anchored to a self-assembled nanoparticle. Organized along the three-fold axis of the ferritin particle, eight SARS-CoV-2 spike trimers are presented per nanoparticle. Methods: Here, we describe the CGMP processes for manufacturing SpFN using transient transfection of Expi293F cells. Results: The final yield of SpFN was ~10 mg per liter of media supernatant. The resulting protein is stable in cold storage for two years at −20 °C, as well as for a month at room temperature, and can withstand multiple freeze/thaw cycles. SpFN material produced using the CGMP protocols adjuvanted with Army Liposomal Formulation-QS-21 (ALFQ) elicited potent neutralizing antibodies against WA-1, Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants in mice as measured by a pseudovirus neutralization assay. Conclusions: This work demonstrates rapid development and scaled-up production of clinical-grade SARS-CoV-2 vaccine protein material, allowing permissive storage and transport conditions, and serves as a framework for recombinant protein production for future emergent pathogens. Full article
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