5,948
Views
87
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

Induction of HIV-1 gag specific immune responses by cationic micelles mediated delivery of gag mRNA

, , , &
Pages 2596-2607 | Received 05 Feb 2015, Accepted 05 Apr 2015, Published online: 29 May 2015
 

Abstract

In recent years, mRNA-based vaccines have emerged to be a great alternative to DNA-based vaccines due to the safety of not inserting into host genome. However, mRNA molecules are single-stranded nucleic acids that are vulnerable under RNase existing in human skin and tissues. In this study, a self-assembled cationic nanomicelles based on polyethyleneimine-stearic acid (PSA) copolymer were developed to delivery HIV-1 gag encoding mRNA to dendritic cells and BALB/c mice. We evaluated the transfection efficiency and cell uptake efficiency of naked EGFP mRNA, PSA, PEI-2k and PEI-25k nanoparticles format on DC2.4 cell lines. Immune responses after sub-cutaneous administration of gag mRNA to BALB/c mice were notably induced by PSA as compared with naked gag mRNA. We found the PSA/mRNA nanomicelles were potent systems that can effectively deliver mRNA and induce antigen-specific immune response, stimulating various new vaccine strategies using mRNA.

Declaration of interest

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81173011 & 81422044).

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.