Publications by authors named "Dylan A Hendy"

Article Synopsis
  • Seasonal influenza viruses lead to epidemics in humans, while avian influenza poses a serious risk due to its ability to infect multiple species and cause severe illness, highlighting the need for a universal vaccine.
  • The study explores using cGAMP, an adjuvant that boosts immune response through the STING pathway, encapsulated in Ace-DEX microparticles to enhance vaccine efficacy; specifically, it evaluates COBRA vaccine candidates in mice.
  • The results showed that cGAMP-adjuvanted COBRA vaccines provoked strong immune responses, including higher specific antibodies and reduced viral impact, proving their potential as a universal influenza vaccine for both seasonal and pre-pandemic strains.
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Influenza outbreaks are a major burden worldwide annually. While seasonal vaccines do provide protection against infection, they are limited in that they need to be updated every year to account for the constantly mutating virus. Recently, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) encapsulating mRNA have seen major success as a vaccine platform for SARS-CoV-2.

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Vaccines represent a pivotal health advancement for preventing infection. However, because carrier systems with repeated administration can invoke carrier-targeted immune responses that diminish subsequent immune responses (e.g.

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Influenza viruses cause a common respiratory disease known as influenza. In humans, seasonal influenza viruses can lead to epidemics, with avian influenza viruses of particular concern because they can infect multiple species and lead to unpredictable and severe disease. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a universal influenza vaccine that provides protection against seasonal and pre-pandemic influenza virus strains.

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Article Synopsis
  • Influenza virus outbreaks pose a significant global health challenge each year, with current vaccines often ineffective due to changes in the virus and low immune responses.
  • COBRA hemagglutinin (HA) immunogens show promise in addressing viral mutations but require adjuvants to enhance their effectiveness, with STING agonists demonstrating potential in this role.
  • This study explores a new vaccine platform using acetalated dextran microparticles with COBRA HA and a STING agonist in mouse models, revealing varying efficacy across different genetic backgrounds and health conditions, emphasizing the need for targeted adjuvant strategies.
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Article Synopsis
  • The traditional flu vaccines are made from inactivated viruses produced in chicken eggs, but this process is slow and can lead to mismatched strains, affecting vaccine efficacy.
  • Subunit-based vaccines offer quicker production but often need adjuvants like MF59, which primarily generates a helper T-cell type 2 (Th2) immune response, less optimal for strong protection against influenza.
  • A study used acetalated dextran (Ace-DEX) to create microparticles that effectively encapsulate the Th1-stimulating adjuvant cGAMP, demonstrating that these particles provide stronger immune responses compared to conventional adjuvants in mice.
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Article Synopsis
  • * Enhanced delivery methods and adjuvants are needed to boost the immunogenicity of these subunit proteins, with recent studies exploring the use of a coordination polymer called ZnCar as a delivery system.
  • * Mice vaccinated with a combination of the COBRA HA immunogen Y2, the adjuvant CpG, and ZnCar showed a stronger immune response compared to those given just soluble Y2, and ZnCar also demonstrated good stability for storing the vaccine components.
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Currently licensed vaccine adjuvants offer limited mucosal immunity, which is needed to better combat respiratory infections such as influenza. Mast cells (MCs) are emerging as a target for a new class of mucosal vaccine adjuvants. Here, we developed and characterized a nanoparticulate adjuvant composed of an MC activator [mastoparan-7 (M7)] and a TLR ligand (CpG).

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Introduction: Vaccine technology has constantly advanced since its origin. One of these advancements is where purified parts of a pathogen are used rather than the whole pathogen. Subunit vaccines have no chance of causing disease; however, alone these antigens are often poorly immunogenic.

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Article Synopsis
  • There is growing interest in using mast cell activating (MCA) compounds to enhance vaccine effectiveness, with some compounds like M7 and Compound 48/80 showing promise as adjuvants but facing limitations in scaling and stability.
  • High throughput screening led to the identification of several small molecule MCAs, but their poor solubility hindered their effectiveness in vivo.
  • Encapsulation of these MCAs in acetalated dextran (Ace-DEX) microparticles improved their delivery and led to a strong immune response, with ST101036-loaded MPs yielding the highest antibody levels and survival rates in a West Nile Virus model.
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Influenza is a global health concern with millions of infections occurring yearly. Seasonal flu vaccines are one way to combat this virus; however, they are poorly protective against influenza as the virus is constantly mutating, particularly at the immunodominant hemagglutinin (HA) head group. A more broadly acting approach involves Computationally Optimized Broadly Reactive Antigen (COBRA).

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There has been extensive interest in cellular therapies for the treatment of myocardial infarction, but bottlenecks concerning cellular accumulation and retention remain. Here, a novel system of in situ crosslinking mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for the formation of a living depot at the infarct site is reported. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells that are surface decorated with heterodimerizing leucine zippers, termed ZipperCells, are engineered.

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Influenza affects millions of people worldwide and can result in severe sickness and even death. The best method of prevention is vaccination; however, the seasonal influenza vaccine often suffers from low efficacy and requires yearly vaccination due to changes in strain and viral mutations. More conserved universal influenza antigens like M2 ectodomain (M2e) and the stalk region of hemagglutinin (HA stalk) have been used clinically but often suffer from low antigenicity.

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