Abstract

There is an unmet need for new influenza vaccine strategies that compensate for impaired vaccine responses in elderly individuals. Here, we evaluated the effectiveness of a single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) as an adjuvant to enhance the efficacy of inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV) in mouse models. Immunization with the ssRNA along with IIV reduced viral titers as well as pathological and inflammatory scores in the lungs after influenza challenge in aged mice. ssRNA induced balanced Th1/Th2 responses with an increase in IgA titers. Moreover, the ssRNA adjuvant markedly increased the frequency of influenza HA-specific T cells and IFN-γ production along with the expression of genes related to innate and adaptive immune systems that could overcome immunosenescence in aged mice. Our findings indicate that ssRNA is an efficient vaccine adjuvant that boosts cellular and humoral immunity in aged mice, demonstrating its potential as a novel adjuvant for currently available influenza virus vaccines for elderly individuals.

Details

Title
Effective inactivated influenza vaccine for the elderly using a single-stranded RNA-based adjuvant
Author
Yoo-Jin, Bang 1 ; So-Hee, Hong 1 ; Hyo-Jung, Park 1 ; Kwak, Hye Won 1 ; Yu-Sun, Lee 1 ; Jae-Yong, Kim 1 ; Park Hyeong-Jun 1 ; Seo-Hyeon, Bae 1 ; Hye-Jung, Kim 2 ; Yun-Hee, Kim 3 ; Ko Hae Li 4 ; Park, Sang-In 4 ; Kim, Hun 5 ; Park Gyeongjoo 6 ; Man-Seong, Park 7 ; Chang, Jun 6 ; Jae-Hwan, Nam 1 

 The Catholic University of Korea, Department of Medical and Biological Sciences, Bucheon, Republic of Korea (GRID:grid.411947.e) (ISNI:0000 0004 0470 4224); The Catholic University of Korea, BK Plus Department of Biotechnology, Bucheon, Republic of Korea (GRID:grid.411947.e) (ISNI:0000 0004 0470 4224) 
 The Catholic University of Korea, Department of Medical and Biological Sciences, Bucheon, Republic of Korea (GRID:grid.411947.e) (ISNI:0000 0004 0470 4224) 
 SK Bioscience, Department of R&D, Bundang-gu, Republic of Korea (GRID:grid.411947.e) 
 Scripps Korea Antibody Institute, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea (GRID:grid.482586.5) 
 SK Bioscience, Department of R&D, Bundang-gu, Republic of Korea (GRID:grid.482586.5) 
 Ewha Womans University, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Seoul, Republic of Korea (GRID:grid.255649.9) (ISNI:0000 0001 2171 7754) 
 Korea University, Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea (GRID:grid.222754.4) (ISNI:0000 0001 0840 2678) 
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2537858368
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.