Thermogelling PLGA-PEG-PLGA polymer used in development of Q-fever vaccine

 

Q fever is a potentially disease caused by the bacteria Coxiella burnetiid that infects farm animals and can cross to humans. Researchers at University of California used PLGA-PEG-PLGA (cat# AK012, AK019, AK091) from PolySciTech Division of Akina, Inc. (www.polyscitech.com) to develop a thermogel delivery system for antigen delivery. This research holds promise to prevent this disease. Read more: Wang, Lu, Aaron Ramirez, Jiin Felgner, Enya Li, Jenny E. Hernandez-Davies, Anthony E. Gregory, Philip L. Felgner, Ali Mohraz, D. Huw Davies, and Szu-Wen Wang. "Development of a single-dose Q fever vaccine with an injectable nanoparticle-loaded hydrogel: effect of sustained co-delivery of antigen and adjuvant." Drug Delivery 32, no. 1 (2025): 2476144. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10717544.2025.2476144

“Q fever is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by Coxiella burnetii, and there is currently no FDA-approved vaccine for human use. The whole-cell inactivated vaccine Q-VAX, which is only licensed in Australia, has a risk of causing severe adverse reactions, making subunit vaccines a good alternative. However, most subunit antigens are weak immunogens and require two or more immunizations to elicit an adequate level of immunity. We hypothesized that by combining a nanoparticle to co-deliver both a protein antigen and an adjuvant, together with a hydrogel depot for sustained-release kinetics, a single-administration of a nanoparticle-loaded hydrogel vaccine could elicit a strong and durable immune response. We synthesized and characterized a protein nanoparticle (CBU-CpG-E2) that co-delivered the immunodominant protein antigen CBU1910 (CBU) from C. burnetii and the adjuvant CpG1826 (CpG). For sustained release, we examined different mixtures of PLGA-PEG-PLGA (PPP) polymers and identified a PPP solution that was injectable at room temperature, formed a hydrogel at physiological temperature, and continuously released protein for 8 weeks in vivo. Single-dose vaccine formulations were administered to mice, and IgG, IgG1, and IgG2c levels were determined over time. The vaccine combining both the CBU-CpG-E2 nanoparticles and the PPP hydrogel elicited a stronger and more durable humoral immune response than the soluble bolus nanoparticle vaccines (without hydrogel) and the free antigen and free adjuvant-loaded hydrogel vaccines (without nanoparticles), and it yielded a balanced IgG2c/IgG1 response. This study demonstrates the potential advantages of using this modular PPP hydrogel/nanoparticle system to elicit improved immune responses against infectious pathogens.”

PLGA-PEG-PLGA (Cat# AK012, AK019, AK091): https://akinainc.com/polyscitech/products/polyvivo/index.php?highlight=AK019#h

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