Nanoparticle Vaccines Adopting Virus-like Features for Enhanced Immune Potentiation

Chattopadhyay, Saborni; Chen, Jui-Yi; Chen, Hui-Wen; Hu, Che-Ming Jack

Electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged antigens and nanoparticles have been exploited to prepare nanoparticle vaccines. In general, cationic nanocarriers are prepared for the association of anionic protein antigens. In the case of liposomes, cationic lipid DOTAP is frequently applied to render the nanocarrier positively charged. DOTAP-based liposomes have been shown to absorb HPV E7 peptides [206] , enhancing antigen-specific CD8 T cell response and increasing antitumor responses. Strategies have also been employed to prepare antigens with added anionic moieties via recombinant protein engineering. By expressing HPV E7 protein and ovalbumin with an anionic lipoprotein, Shen et al. demonstrated enhanced antigen association efficiency and retention to DOTAP liposomes. The vaccine formulation elevated antigen-specific cellular responses and inhibited tumor growth in a mouse model [207, 208] .