Nanocage technology combines both mRNA and traditional virus-based vaccines to create effective virus-like vaccines
A new technology developed by researchers at King’s College London (KCL) could provide a new way to deliver drugs to advance next-generation treatments for the prevention and treatment of a range of diseases. be.
Published in a nanotechnology journal smallPlug-and-play technology could also lead to the development of new treatments that act as both vaccines and drugs to prevent diseases and conditions.
For more than 20 years, a common protein called ferritin, which manages iron in all living organisms, has been used to create vaccines and deliver cancer drugs and other medications to the body.
Until now, scientists have been unable to develop a universal approach to delivering a wide range of drugs because of the unique way proteins self-assemble.
“The inability to easily control the assembly of natural protein nanocages like ferritin makes it possible to use these safe, biocompatible materials as drug delivery systems to develop modern vaccines that are effective against multiple viruses. It’s an obstacle in the way of production,” explains Yujie Sheng, a graduate researcher at KCL.
Now, KCL scientists have developed a new nanocage system that addresses this challenge by copying the behavior of viruses.
This platform combines the advantages of both mRNA and traditional virus-based vaccines, and various antigens can be easily incorporated to create effective virus-like vaccines.
The researchers linked two of ferritin’s 24 interlocking subunits through a series of amino acids known as peptides, halting the protein’s self-assembly and binding various antigens into nanocages. While plugging, the self-assembly of the protein was made open to a variety of water-soluble and insoluble drugs. surface.
Additionally, this new method increased drug encapsulation by fourfold for both water-soluble and insoluble treatments, expanding the range of drugs that ferritin can carry.
“We hope that pharmaceutical manufacturers will recognize the stability and ease of manufacturing that this platform provides,” said Sheng.
Researchers now plan to use nanocage technology to develop new treatments for a variety of diseases, including cancer and viral infections.
