PLGA from PolySciTech used as part of vaccine-delivery system for protection against deadly Group-A strep

Group-A Streptococcus is a bacterial infection which causes over 500,000 deaths/year worldwide. Depending on location of infection, this bacteria can cause diseases including osteomyelitis, necrotizing fasciitis, strep throat, and others. In most cases antibiotics can work to control the infection however with increasing resistance there is a need for a vaccine to effectively prevent the infection in the first place. Recently, researchers utilized PLGA (PolyVivo Cat# AP041) from PolySciTech: Akina, Inc. (www.polyscitech.com) as part of intra-nasal, nanoparticle-based delivery system for a group-A streptococcus peptide vaccine. They tested the system in animal model and found that the produced antibodies were effective against GAS. This research holds promise for the development of an effective vaccine against this deadly disease. Read more: Marasini, Nirmal, Ashwini K. Giddam, Zeinab G. Khalil, Waleed M. Hussein, Robert J. Capon, Michael R. Batzloff, Michael F. Good, Istvan Toth, and Mariusz Skwarczynski. "Double adjuvanting strategy for peptide-based vaccines: trimethyl chitosan nanoparticles for lipopeptide delivery." Nanomedicine 00 (2016). http://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/abs/10.2217/nnm-2016-0291

“Aim: To develop novel polymer-based nanoscale delivery system for lipopeptide-based vaccine against group A Streptococcus (GAS). Materials & methods: Four types of lipopeptide antigen-loaded polymeric nanoparticles (NP) were prepared. NP were accessed for their capacity to be taken up by dendritic cells; effect on dendritic cell maturation; ability to induce mucosal and systemic immunity; and capability to induce antibody responses that opsonize GAS bacteria. Results & discussion: The combination of adjuvanting properties of lipopeptides and dextran/trimethyl chitosan-based NP had a synergistic effect on humoral immunity, and the produced antibodies showed high opsonic activity against clinical GAS isolates. Conclusion: Biocompatible NP-bearing trimethyl chitosan and dextran are efficient as mucosal adjuvants for the intranasal delivery of lipopeptide-based vaccines.”