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Title: Nucleoside-modified mRNA vaccines induce potent T follicular helper and germinal center B cell responses

Journal Article · · Journal of Experimental Medicine
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  1. Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States)
  2. Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC (United States)
  3. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
  4. Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC (United States)
  5. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  6. Acuitas Therapeutics, Vancouver, BC (Canada)
  7. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY (United States)
  8. BioNTech RNA Pharmaceuticals, Mainz (Germany)
  9. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA (United States)
  10. Bioqual Inc., Rockville, MD (United States)

T follicular helper (Tfh) cells are required to develop germinal center (GC) responses and drive immunoglobulin class switch, affinity maturation, and long-term B cell memory. In this study, we characterize a recently developed vaccine platform, nucleoside-modified, purified mRNA encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (mRNA-LNPs), that induces high levels of Tfh and GC B cells. Intradermal vaccination with nucleoside-modified mRNA-LNPs encoding various viral surface antigens elicited polyfunctional, antigen-specific, CD4+T cell responses and potent neutralizing antibody responses in mice and nonhuman primates. Importantly, the strong antigen-specific Tfh cell response and high numbers of GC B cells and plasma cells were associated with long-lived and high-affinity neutralizing antibodies and durable protection. Comparative studies demonstrated that nucleoside-modified mRNA-LNP vaccines outperformed adjuvanted protein and inactivated virus vaccines and pathogen infection. The incorporation of noninflammatory, modified nucleosides in the mRNA is required for the production of large amounts of antigen and for robust immune responses.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Grant/Contract Number:
89233218CNA000001
OSTI ID:
1505995
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-17-26175
Journal Information:
Journal of Experimental Medicine, Vol. 215, Issue 6; ISSN 0022-1007
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 276 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Modified mRNA Vaccines Protect against Zika Virus Infection journal March 2017
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Corrigendum: Induction of Robust B Cell Responses After Influenza mRNA Vaccination Is Accompanied by Circulating Hemagglutinin-Specific ICOS+ PD-1+ CXCR3+ T Follicular Helper Cells journal April 2019
Induction of virus-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytesin vivo by liposome-entrapped mRNA journal July 1993
Designing therapeutic cancer vaccines by mimicking viral infections journal April 2016
The use of self-adjuvanting nanofiber vaccines to elicit high-affinity B cell responses to peptide antigens without inflammation journal November 2013
Germinal Center Selection and the Antibody Response to Influenza journal October 2015
Modified mRNA Vaccines Protect against Zika Virus Infection journal March 2017
Novel universal influenza virus vaccine approaches journal April 2016
Type I Interferon Signaling in Dendritic Cells Stimulates the Development of Lymph-Node-Resident T Follicular Helper Cells journal September 2009
Human Antibodies that Neutralize HIV-1: Identification, Structures, and B Cell Ontogenies journal September 2012
T Follicular Helper Cell Differentiation, Function, and Roles in Disease journal October 2014
Skin dendritic cells induce follicular helper T cells and protective humoral immune responses journal November 2015
N1-methylpseudouridine-incorporated mRNA outperforms pseudouridine-incorporated mRNA by providing enhanced protein expression and reduced immunogenicity in mammalian cell lines and mice journal November 2015
Purification of recombinant vaccinia virus-expressed monomeric HIV-1 gp120 to apparent homogeneity journal July 2013
Lymphatic-targeted cationic liposomes: A robust vaccine adjuvant for promoting long-term immunological memory journal September 2014
Characterization of a thymus-tropic HIV-1 isolate from a rapid progressor: role of the envelope journal October 2004
Cross-reactive monoclonal antibodies to multiple HIV-1 subtype and SIVcpz envelope glycoproteins journal November 2009
Immunogenicity and protective efficacy of influenza vaccination journal July 2004
Preclinical and Clinical Demonstration of Immunogenicity by mRNA Vaccines against H10N8 and H7N9 Influenza Viruses journal June 2017
Efficient Targeting and Activation of Antigen-Presenting Cells In Vivo after Modified mRNA Vaccine Administration in Rhesus Macaques journal December 2017
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Incorporation of Pseudouridine Into mRNA Yields Superior Nonimmunogenic Vector With Increased Translational Capacity and Biological Stability journal November 2008
Biodegradable Lipids Enabling Rapidly Eliminated Lipid Nanoparticles for Systemic Delivery of RNAi Therapeutics journal August 2013
Zika virus protection by a single low-dose nucleoside-modified mRNA vaccination journal February 2017
Potent and persistent in vivo anti-HBV activity of chemically modified siRNAs journal July 2005
Activin A programs the differentiation of human TFH cells journal July 2016
mRNA vaccines — a new era in vaccinology journal January 2018
Broadly neutralizing antibodies and the search for an HIV-1 vaccine: the end of the beginning journal August 2013
Unmodified mRNA in LNPs constitutes a competitive technology for prophylactic vaccines journal October 2017
Affinity maturation in an HIV broadly neutralizing B-cell lineage through reorientation of variable domains journal June 2014
Sustained antigen availability during germinal center initiation enhances antibody responses to vaccination journal October 2016
Progress in developing virus-like particle influenza vaccines journal May 2016
Magnitude and Breadth of the Neutralizing Antibody Response in the RV144 and Vax003 HIV-1 Vaccine Efficacy Trials journal May 2012
Generating the optimal mRNA for therapy: HPLC purification eliminates immune activation and improves translation of nucleoside-modified, protein-encoding mRNA journal September 2011
Tfh cells and HIV bnAbs, an immunodominance model of the HIV neutralizing antibody generation problem journal January 2017
Germinal Centers journal April 2022
Synthetic DNA vaccine strategies against persistent viral infections journal May 2013
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Targeting Antigen to Mouse Dendritic Cells via Clec9A Induces Potent CD4 T Cell Responses Biased toward a Follicular Helper Phenotype journal June 2011
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Decreased T Follicular Regulatory Cell/T Follicular Helper Cell (T FH ) in Simian Immunodeficiency Virus–Infected Rhesus Macaques May Contribute to Accumulation of T FH in Chronic Infection journal August 2015
Targeting Antigen to Clec9A Primes Follicular Th Cell Memory Responses Capable of Robust Recall journal June 2015
Cytokine-Independent Detection of Antigen-Specific Germinal Center T Follicular Helper Cells in Immunized Nonhuman Primates Using a Live Cell Activation-Induced Marker Technique journal June 2016
Water-in-Oil–Only Adjuvants Selectively Promote T Follicular Helper Cell Polarization through a Type I IFN and IL-6–Dependent Pathway journal October 2016
A novel, disruptive vaccination technology: Self-adjuvanted RNActive journal October 2013

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The promise of mRNA vaccines: a biotech and industrial perspective journal February 2020
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Strategies for inducing effective neutralizing antibody responses against HIV-1 journal November 2019
Evaluation of a Single-Dose Nucleoside-Modified Messenger RNA Vaccine Encoding Hendra Virus-Soluble Glycoprotein Against Lethal Nipah virus Challenge in Syrian Hamsters journal November 2019
Nucleoside-modified mRNA encoding HSV-2 glycoproteins C, D, and E prevents clinical and subclinical genital herpes journal September 2019
Nucleoside-modified mRNA vaccination partially overcomes maternal antibody inhibition of de novo immune responses in mice journal January 2020
Assessing the Protective Potential of H1N1 Influenza Virus Hemagglutinin Head and Stalk Antibodies in Humans journal January 2019
Advances in mRNA Vaccines for Infectious Diseases journal March 2019
Protective Efficacy of Nucleic Acid Vaccines Against Transmission of Zika Virus During Pregnancy in Mice journal July 2019
mRNA as novel technology for passive immunotherapy journal October 2018
Pituitary microadenomas: experience with Gd-DOTA-enhanced MR imaging at 0.5 Telsa journal August 1994
An mRNA Vaccine Protects Mice against Multiple Tick-Transmitted Flavivirus Infections journal December 2018
Characterization of HIV-1 Nucleoside-Modified mRNA Vaccines in Rabbits and Rhesus Macaques journal April 2019
mRNA as a Transformative Technology for Vaccine Development to Control Infectious Diseases journal April 2019
The promise of mRNA vaccines: a biotech and industrial perspective journal February 2020
Strategies for inducing effective neutralizing antibody responses against HIV-1 journal November 2019
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CD4+ T cells promote humoral immunity and viral control during Zika virus infection journal January 2019
COVID-19: Current Developments and Further Opportunities in Drug Delivery and Therapeutics journal October 2020
Harnessing T Follicular Helper Cell Responses for HIV Vaccine Development journal June 2018
Immunizing the Immune: Can We Overcome Influenza’s Most Formidable Challenge? journal September 2018
Enlisting the mRNA Vaccine Platform to Combat Parasitic Infections journal September 2019