Engineered migrasomes provide a robust and thermally stable vaccination platform

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Immunology
• Vaccinology

Background:

• Pathogens and tumors increasingly evade immune surveillance, necessitating novel vaccine strategies.
• Current vaccine accessibility is hampered by cold-chain logistics, especially in resource-limited areas.
• Migrasomes, stable organelles rich in immunomodulatory molecules, present a potential basis for new vaccine platforms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To engineer high-yield, stable migrasome-like vesicles (eMigrasomes) for vaccine applications.
• To evaluate the immunogenicity and thermal stability of eMigrasomes.
• To assess the efficacy of eMigrasome-based vaccines against viral challenge.

Main Methods:

• Engineered migrasome-like vesicles (eMigrasomes) using hypotonic shock and cytoskeletal disruption.
• Loaded eMigrasomes with a model antigen and SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein.
• Assessed antibody responses, structural integrity, immunogenicity, and protection in murine models.
• Evaluated eMigrasome performance at room temperature.

Main Results:

• eMigrasome production achieved higher efficiency than natural migrasomes.
• eMigrasomes loaded with antigen elicited potent antibody responses in mice.
• eMigrasomes maintained structural integrity and immunogenicity at room temperature.
• eMigrasomes displaying SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein conferred protection against viral challenge.

Conclusions:

• eMigrasomes represent a novel, thermally stable vaccine platform derived from migrasome biology.
• This platform overcomes cold-chain dependencies, enhancing vaccine accessibility.
• eMigrasomes show broad applicability for developing next-generation vaccines.