Vaccination is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable health achievements in human history. In just over two centuries, vaccines have enabled us to achieve extraordinary goals, such as eradicating smallpox, eradicating polio from most parts of the world, and dramatically reducing mortality and morbidity from many infectious diseases. Vaccination policies are the cornerstone of public health, and there is a strong emphasis on ensuring safe and effective vaccines. The effectiveness of the vaccine depends not only on the antigenic composition, but also on the adjuvants that are often used, stimul ..read more

The development of effective vaccines for infectious diseases is one of the most successful global health interventions ever. Although subunit vaccines largely depend on the selection of antigens and adjuvants, the exposure modes and time scales of the immune system are often overlooked. Adjuvants play a crucial role in enhancing the quality and efficacy of immune responses, but unfortunately, poor control over the delivery of many adjuvants can limit their efficacy and lead to off-target toxicity. Therefore, there is an urgent need to improve adjuvant delivery technologies to improve the effi ..read more

The trend in the field of cancer immunotherapy is the use of cancer vaccines. By using identified tumor antigens to stimulate the immune system, cancer vaccines can generate a specific immune response against tumor cells, thus causing the destruction of these cells and preventing recurrences and metastasis. Recently, a research team led by Zhao Xiao and Nie Guangjun at the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed a strategy dubbed “peri-vaccination immune priming,” which involves enhancing the immune system through the use of bacterial nanopart ..read more

Recently, researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, published a research paper titled “Both chimpanzee adenovirus-vectored and DNA vaccines induced long-term immunity against Nipah virus infection” in npj Vaccines. The study holds the potential for further development into a candidate vaccine for the Nipah virus. Nipah virus disease is an acute and highly fatal zoonotic infectious disease caused by Nipah virus (NiV) infection, leading to diseases in both humans and animals that affect the central nervous and respiratory systems. Patients initially exhibit f ..read more

Recently, a research paper titled “Oncolytic virus M1 functions as a bifunctional checkpoint inhibitor to enhance the antitumor activity of DC vaccine” was published in Cell Reports Medicine, a sub-journal of Cell. The study demonstrates that a novel oncolytic virus, M1 oncolytic vesicular stomatitis virus (OVM), can enhance the antitumor effect of DC vaccines by increasing the infiltration of CD8+ effector T cells in the tumor microenvironment. Mechanistically, tumor cells counteract DC vaccines through the SIRPα-CD47 immune checkpoint, and OVM can downregulate SIRPα in DCs and CD47 in tumor ..read more

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a highly malignant mesenchymal tumor composed of cells that produce bone-like and immature bone tissue. The peak incidence occurs in the second decade of life after birth. Although relatively rare, the social impact of this tumor is particularly relevant. Unlike other cancers, the molecular genetics of OS progression and the role of its unique tumor microenvironment (TME)—the bone—remain largely unclear. While the TME has been extensively studied in other solid tumors to describe its role in tumor progression and, in part, in distant metastasis, research into tumor-stroma ..read more

The American Heart Association’s Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Annual Conference in 2023, recently held in Boston, USA, featured a study indicating that a novel vaccine targeting inflammatory brain cells associated with Alzheimer’s disease may be a key to preventing or altering the course of the disease. As cells enter an aging state, they release pro-inflammatory factors, leading to various age-related diseases. Previous research identified a new protein, Senescence-Associated Glycoprotein (SAGP), as a biomarker for cellular aging. Inflammatory processes in cells can overactivate SAGP, and in ..read more

In a recent study, the California Institute of Technology’s novel technology seeks to develop more effective vaccines, starting with SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. In mouse studies, this prototype vaccine produced five times more potent antibodies than the COVID-19 vaccines currently available. These antibodies generated by the new vaccine were effective against the original strain of SARS-CoV-2, the delta variant, and the omicron variant. The findings of this study were recently published in the journal Cell, under the title “ESCRT recruitment to SARS-CoV-2 spike induces vi ..read more

The mRNA COVID-19 vaccine has allowed us to witness the effectiveness, safety, and tremendous potential of mRNA technology. Currently, research institutions worldwide are targeting cancer as the next goal for mRNA technology. mRNA cancer vaccines work by generating proteins (tumor antigens) that are specifically expressed in cancer cells, activating cellular immunity to attack these cells. However, distinguishing between cancer cells and normal cells is challenging, and cancer cells possess immune-suppressive properties, making the development of mRNA cancer vaccines more challenging than mRNA ..read more

Despite conducting some of the most successful international vaccination campaigns in history, the poliovirus continues to circulate worldwide, posing a threat of neurological damage and paralysis to unvaccinated individuals. While wild poliovirus strains have been largely eradicated, the oral polio vaccine (OPV) widely used in developing countries can generate new strains. OPV utilizes attenuated live polioviruses that can occasionally mutate back to a virulent form, leading to outbreaks in countries considered polio-free. In a recent study, researchers from the University of California, San ..read more