A research group from Tokyo University of Science and the University of Tokyo used a blueprint vaccine with lipid particles to study how mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 generate immunity. The experiment showed enhanced uptake by antigen-presenting cells and increased activation of antibodies and killer T cells. Although the pandemic has ended, the mechanism remains a subject for future research.
This study elucidates part of the mechanism by which mRNA vaccines induce immunity and uses a vaccine in which a viral blueprint is enclosed in lipid particles. The experiment involved intramuscular injections in mice.
The experiment showed increased uptake by cells that present antigens on their surface, along with the promotion of diverse antibody production and killer T-cell activation as immune responses.
The research group used the same lipids as those in mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 and reproduced similar antigen presentation with a vaccine containing the blueprint for a protein found in eggs.
Although the pandemic has subsided, understanding immune induction, including the findings of this study, is expected to continue as an area of basic research.