Journal: bioRxiv
Article Title: A modular mRNA–LNP vaccine platform enables integrated RNA, lipid and antigen design to protect against CCHFV
doi: 10.64898/2026.01.17.699915
Figure Lengend Snippet: a, Female C57BL/6J mice were immunized intramuscularly with Cleancap M6 mRNA–LNP formulations encoding nucleocapsid (NP), mutant nucleocapsid (NPmut), sGCs, or sGCs (GP38Δglyc). Blood, spleens, and lymph nodes were collected on day 35 for downstream analyses, including ELISA, dendritic cell profiling, and ELISPOT assays. b, Splenocytes were stimulated for 24 hours with 10 µg/mL of nucleocapsid or GP38 proteins and analyzed by ELISPOT for IFN-γ and IL-4 secretion. NP and NPmut groups induced significantly higher IFN-γ responses compared with sGCs, sGCs (GP38Δglyc), and negative control, whereas sGCs and sGCs (GP38Δglyc) showed no significant IFN-γ response. None of the vaccine groups elicited significant IL-4 production. c, Splenocytes were stimulated ex vivo for 24 hours with 10 µg/mL of nucleocapsid or GP38 proteins and analyzed for intracellular cytokines IFN-γ, IL-2, and TNF-α in CD8⁺ and CD4⁺ T cells. All vaccine groups elicited robust CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell responses compared with negative controls, except for sGCs (GP38Δglyc). NP vaccination induced significantly higher cytokine production in CD8⁺ T cells relative to control, whereas sGCs (GP38Δglyc) uniquely enhanced IL-2 and TNF-α in CD4⁺ T cells. No significant differences were observed among vaccine groups. d, Lymph nodes were analyzed for plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) and conventional CD11c⁺ DCs (cDC1). Only sGCs and NP vaccine groups demonstrated significantly increased pDC and cDC1 frequencies, respectively, relative to controls. e, Dots represent the distribution of individual serum samples at each dilution. Both immunogens elicited robust neutralizing activity at low serum dilutions (1:100–1:200). At higher dilutions (1:1600–1:6400), sera from mice immunized with MLD-GP38Δglyc exhibited significantly greater neutralization than the wild-type MLD-GP38 group, indicating that removal of GP38 glycans enhances the potency and/or durability of the neutralizing antibody response. Negative control sera (blue) showed minimal inhibition across all dilutions. f, ELISA revealed that 3 out of 6 mice in the NPmut group were positive, while no NP-vaccinated mice showed detectable antibody. Both sGCs and sGCs (GP38Δglyc) groups exhibited significantly higher antibody responses than negative controls, with no differences between these two groups. g and h, The immunization/grouping scheme in IS C57BL/6 mice. i, Weight, clinical score and survival of C57BL/6J mice vaccinated with CCHFV based mRNAs 35 days prior to challenge and provided a boost dose at 21 days prior to challenge (n = 10 per group). On the day of challenge, mice were transiently immunosuppressed with anti-mouse IFNAR-1 mAb IP and subsequently inoculated with CCHFV strain IbAr10200 SC. Weights depicted as percent change from baseline at D0. Clinical scores are shown as individual daily scores (0–10; increasing intensity of red indicates higher scores, and gray boxes denote end of monitoring due to euthanasia or reaching a lethal endpoint; top) or as mean scores for each experimental group (bottom).
Article Snippet: Plates were washed once with 0.1% Tween-20 in PBS and blocked with 200 μL ChonBlock ELISA Buffer (Chondrex, Cat #9068) for 2 hours at room temperature.
Techniques: Mutagenesis, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Enzyme-linked Immunospot, Negative Control, Ex Vivo, Control, Activity Assay, Neutralization, Inhibition