An immune-enhanced multivalent DNA nanovaccine to prevent H7 and H9 avian influenza virus in mice.

H7 avian influenza virus has caused multiple human infections and poses a severe public health threat. In response to the highly variable nature of AIVs, a novel, easily regenerated DNA vaccine has great potential in treating or preventing avian influenza pandemics. Nevertheless, DNA vaccines have many disadvantages, such as weak immunogenicity and poor in vivo delivery.

Dendrigraft poly-L-lysines delivery of DNA vaccine effectively enhances the immunogenic responses against H9N2 avian influenza virus infection in chickens.

Biodegradable nanomaterials can protect antigens from degradation, promote cellular absorption, and enhance immune responses. We constructed a eukaryotic plasmid [pCAGGS-opti441-hemagglutinin (HA)] by inserting the optimized HA gene fragment of H9N2 AIV into the pCAGGS vector. The pCAGGS-opti441-HA/DGL was developed through packaging the pCAGGS-opti441-HA with dendrigraft poly-l-lysines (DGLs).