Cell-Penetrating Peptide Penetratin as a Potential Tool for Developing Effective Nasal Vaccination Systems

Nasal vaccination is considered an attractive strategy to prevent the infection and spread of viruses. However, the vaccine formulations available on the market remain imperfect on account of their limited effectiveness. In the present study, we hypothesized that the nasal coadministration of antigens with cell-penetrating peptides promotes antigen delivery immune response in the nasal mucosa, thereby enhancing the production of mucosal IgA and systemic IgG. The levels of ovalbumin (OVA)-specific IgG and IgA in plasma and nasal perfusate, respectively, increased after 2 or 4 weeks on nasal coadministration of OVA with l- or d-penetratin, suggesting that OVA antigen was effectively delivered by penetratin to the nasal epithelium. An additional study demonstrated that the production of systemic IgG and nasal mucosal IgA against influenza A virus was specifically promoted by nasal coadministration of influenza A virus with d-penetratin. The results of this study suggested that cell-penetrating peptides are a promising tool for the delivery of vaccines to the nasal mucosa and for the subsequent dual stimulation of systemic and mucosal immune responses.