Researchers at MIT have developed a nanoscale vaccine delivery particle from the M13 bacteriophage, a harmless virus that forms a long nanofiber. The fiber can be coated with cancer antigens, the molecules that teach the immune system what to attack, and the team can adapt it to carry different antigens for personalized vaccines.
The team attaches each antigen to one of the virus's coat proteins, usually by adding the antigen's gene to the virus's DNA, and found ways to adjust how densely it is displayed. The virus's own single-stranded DNA also stimulates the immune system, so the particle does not need a separate adjuvant.
In mice, phages carrying a model antigen at 35% density protected better than those at 6%, and vaccinated mice made more T cells targeting that antigen and were much less likely to develop melanoma. A higher-density vaccine carrying a colon tumour antigen also made colon tumours much less likely.
The study tested prevention, in mice only, and no human trials are reported. The paper appears in Advanced Healthcare Materials, with research scientist Shengnan Huang as lead author and Angela Belcher as senior author.
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