An imidazole modified lipid confers enhanced mRNA-LNP stability and strong immunization properties in mice and non-human primates.

The mRNA vaccine technology has promising applications to fight infectious diseases as demonstrated by the licensing of two mRNA-based vaccines, Comirnaty® (Pfizer/BioNtech) and Spikevax® (Moderna), in the context of the Covid-19 crisis. Safe and effective delivery systems are essential to the performance of these vaccines and lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) able to entrap, protect and deliver the mRNA in vivo are considered by many as the current "best in class". Nevertheless, current mRNA/LNP vaccine technology has still some limitations, one of them being thermostability, as evidenced by the ultracold distribution chain required for the licensed vaccines.

Göttingen Minipigs as a Model to Evaluate Longevity, Functionality, and Memory of Immune Response Induced by Pertussis Vaccines.

Evaluation of the short-term and long-term immunological responses in a preclinical model that simulates the targeted age population with a relevant vaccination schedule is essential for human vaccine development. A Göttingen minipig model was assessed, using pertussis vaccines, to demonstrate that vaccine antigen-specific humoral and cellular responses, including IgG titers, functional antibodies, Th polarization and memory B cells can be assessed in a longitudinal study. A vaccination schedule of priming with a whole cell (DTwP) or an acellular (DTaP) pertussis vaccine was applied in neonatal and infant minipigs followed by boosting with a Tdap acellular vaccine.

Personality traits are associated with cognitive empathy in medical students but not with its evolution and interventions to improve it.

Objective: Cognitive empathy might decrease during medical school. Factors associated with its evolution remain poorly understood, as well as whether such factors could moderate the effect of an intervention to preserve cognitive empathy. The aim was to explore the associations between personality traits and both cognitive empathy at baseline and its changes at follow-up.

Patient-Physician Agreement in Reporting and Prioritizing Existing Chronic Conditions.

Purpose: In this study, we aimed to assess (1) the agreement between patient self-reports and general practitioner (GP) reports of the chronic conditions affecting the patients and (2) the agreement between patients and GPs on health priorities in a primary care setting.

Method: Patients were recruited in the Parisian area of France by a convenience sample of GPs; eligibility criteria required that the GP was the patient's listed primary care provider for at least 12 months. Participants were asked to report all the patient's current chronic conditions by using a previously developed list of 124 chronic conditions and write a list of up to 3 priority conditions.

A comparative review of toll-like receptor 4 expression and functionality in different animal species.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) belong to the pattern recognition receptor (PRR) family, a key component of the innate immune system. TLRs detect invading pathogens and initiate an immediate immune response to them, followed by a long-lasting adaptive immune response. Activation of TLRs leads to the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines and the expression of co-stimulatory molecules.

In vivo manipulation of dendritic cell migration and activation to elicit antitumour immunity.

Two approaches have been pursued to elicit antitumour immunity: (i) induce recruitment of immature dendritic cells or their precursors at a site of antigen delivery, and (ii) induce activation of tumour-infiltrating dendritic cells (DCs). The recruitment of selected DC subtype conditions the class of the immune response. Each immature DC population displays a unique spectrum of chemokine responsiveness.

Reversal of tumor-induced dendritic cell paralysis by CpG immunostimulatory oligonucleotide and anti-interleukin 10 receptor antibody.

Progressing tumors in man and mouse are often infiltrated by dendritic cells (DCs). Deficient antitumor immunity could be related to a lack of tumor-associated antigen (TAA) presentation by tumor-infiltrating DCs (TIDCs) or to a functional defect of TIDCs. Here we investigated the phenotype and function of TIDCs in transplantable and transgenic mouse tumor models.

Regulation of dendritic cell recruitment by chemokines.

Dendritic cells (DC) are a heterogeneous family of cells that function as sentinels of the immune system. This article summarizes observations suggesting that inflammatory chemokines secreted at the site of pathogen invasion determine the DC subset recruited and influence the class of the immune response initiated. Langerhans cells are selectively recruited by MIP-3alpha/CCL20.