Chinese scientists have developed an innovative vaccine manufacturing strategy by entrapping live Zika virus in a hydrogel to activate the body’s immune response quickly, safely and effectively. The new vaccine strategy aims to produce ready-to-use vaccines that are safe and effective against new viral outbreaks. This new approach represents a promising strategy for protection against emerging infectious diseases, as traditional whole-virus vaccine strategies have limitations such as reduced immunity, safety concerns and time-consuming manufacturing processes. The study demonstrates that virulent virus strains can be directly transformed into vaccines by engineering virus-entrapped microenvironments.
Chinese Scientists Develop Innovative Vaccine Manufacturing Strategy
Chinese scientists have developed a new vaccine manufacturing strategy that involves wrapping live virus in a protective hydrogel to activate the body’s immune response quickly, safely, and effectively. The new vaccine strategy aims to produce ready-to-use vaccines that are safe and effective against new viral outbreaks. Traditional whole-virus vaccine strategies, such as inactivation, have reduced immunity and safety concerns, hampering extensive application.
The researchers from Zhejiang University and Beijing Institute of Biotechnology demonstrated an experimental vaccine consisting of live wild-type Zika virus, a mosquito-borne single-stranded RNA virus. They entrapped the virus in a hydrogel with Chitosan scaffolds that can prevent the escape of the viral particles but allow the passage of immune cells.
According to the study published in the latest edition of Nature Biomedical Engineering, the vaccine, when injected under the skin in mice, enables the activation of innate immune responses, leading to effective humoral and cellular immunity and protecting the rodent against lethal Zika infection.
This proof-of-concept study suggests that virulent virus strains can be directly transformed into vaccines by engineering virus-entrapped microenvironments. It represents a promising strategy for protection against emerging infectious diseases, the researchers said.
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