The leading journal NPJ Vaccines of the Nature Group has just published the latest results of preclinical research on the application against SARS-CoV-2 virus-induced disease of an original vaccine platform based on extracellular vesicle engineering developed exclusively by researchers at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS). Applied to SARS-CoV-2 infection, data show that by using the virus' N protein as antigen, this method proved effective in reducing even more than 1,000-fold the levels of virus replication in the lungs of laboratory mice, and this antiviral effect was seen to persist even months after vaccination. "This particular vaccination method," explains Maurizio Federico, who coordinated the research, "consists of introducing the immunogenic protein of interest (antigen) inside extracellular vesicles naturally released by muscle cells. The nanovesicles thus produced are able to diffuse into any tissue district, inducing a powerful response by cellular immunity that can selectively eliminate cells expressing the selected antigen. One of the most promising aspects demonstrated in these studies relates precisely to the ability of this method to induce strong and, above all, long-lasting cellular immunity in tissues, such as the lung, that normally allow immune cells present in the circulatory system to penetrate with difficulty. This is an extremely important result when also evaluated in the perspective of application against different types of oncological diseases". Based on these results, which also promise significant spin-offs in oncology, Federico explains, it is now possible to proceed with human testing, while additional studies planned will establish the vaccine platform's safety and tolerability.
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