An intranasal nanoparticle vaccine elicits protective immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mucosal vaccines have the potential to elicit protective immune responses at the point of entry of respiratory pathogens, thus preventing even the initial seed infection. Unlike licensed injectable vaccines, mucosal vaccines comprising protein subunits are only in development. One of the primary challenges associated with mucosal vaccines has been identifying and characterizing safe yet effective mucosal adjuvants that can effectively prime multi-factorial mucosal immunity. In this study, we tested NanoSTING, a liposomal formulation of the endogenous activator of the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway, cyclic guanosine adenosine monophosphate (cGAMP), as a mucosal adjuvant. We formulated a vaccine based on the H1 antigen (fusion protein of Ag85b and ESAT-6) adjuvanted with NanoSTING. Intranasal immunization of NanoSTING-H1 elicited a strong T-cell response in the lung of vaccinated animals characterized by (a) CXCR3⁺ KLRG1^- lung resident T cells that are known to be essential for controlling bacterial infection, (b) IFNγ-secreting CD4⁺ T cells which is necessary for intracellular bactericidal activity, and (c) IL17-secreting CD4⁺ T cells that can confer protective immunity against multiple clinically relevant strains of Mtb. Upon challenge with aerosolized Mycobacterium tuberculosis Erdman strain, intranasal NanoSTING-H1 provides protection comparable to subcutaneous administration of the live attenuated Mycobacterium bovis vaccine strain Bacille-Calmette-Guérin (BCG). Our results indicate that NanoSTING adjuvanted protein vaccines can elicit a multi-factorial immune response that protects from infection by M. tuberculosis.