Development of new vaccination technology has been hindered by a lack of new adjuvants to enable development of protective immunity using different vaccine delivery methods. A vaccine delivery system using oral adjuvants would be applicable across species for both individual and mass vaccination in both the medical and veterinary fields. We sought to create an oral nanoparticle (NP) vaccine delivery system that is easy to produce and uses polymers as oral adjuvants with killed virus. Our hypothesis was gelatin and chitosan would enhance viral uptake and stimulate immune cells to produce protective immunity. This would allow the safer killed form of each virus to be used in place of modified live (MLV) viruses and avoid undesirable side effects like immunosuppression. The research objectives were to 1. Fabricate and characterize gelatin NPs encapsulating inert materials of similar size and shape to the viruses of interest for fabrication proof-of-concept 2. Modify the NP delivery system to minimize immune cell cytoxicity for the vaccine delivery application 3. Fabricate and characterize FPV and HEV viral nanoparticles' stability, cellular uptake/infectivity, and released viruses' ability to replicate 4. Compare the abilities of the killed HEV nanovaccine, killed HEV with loose gelatin and chitosan polymers (no nanoparticle), and a live HEV commercial vaccine to induce textit{in vivo} seroconversion, protective immunity, and side effects during clinical and challenge studies in turkeys We proved our hypothesis to be correct in addition to demonstrating matching the encapsulation material size to empty NP size leads to preferred encapsulated NP formulation parameters, chitosan stabilizes the NP formulation bypassing the need for cytotoxic crosslinkers, and paraformaldehyde is able to kill virus prior to vaccine formulation while still preserving virus morphology sufficiently for immune cell recognition. This development constitutes one of the first novel adjuvants discoveries in 70 years and opens the door for conversion of injectable vaccines to oral delivery across species. / Doctor of Philosophy / Most vaccinations use needles to inject a live but weakened virus into the body, which causes a mild infection. The body learns to protect itself using this weak form of the virus, so that when the body encounters a stronger form of the same virus later on in life, the body is able to quickly kill the virus and recover from the infection. If we could package a dead virus with the right mixture, we could get the body to recognize the dead virus and learn to protect itself just as the body does with the weaker, live virus. This would avoid the mild infection and the unpleasant symptoms associated with the live virus injection and allow us to use a safer dead virus vaccine. Additionally, with the right package, we could drink our vaccines instead of using injections. Here, we tried to create a drinkable, safer dead virus packaged with gelatin and shellfish fiber in a vaccine that allows the body could recognize the dead virus and learn to protect itself similarly to the live virus vaccine. The goals of this work were to: 1. Practice putting plastic beads of similar size and shape to viruses in gelatin packages to understand how to safely package viruses in gelatin as part of making the new drinkable vaccine 2. Adjust the process of making the gelatin plastic bead packages to work well with cells in the laboratory as a second step toward making safe vaccines 3. Use the packaging process to package a dead chicken virus and a dead turkey virus separately with gelatin and shellfish fiber and measure each packaged virus 4. Test the dead packaged turkey virus vaccine with gelatin and shellfish fiber, the dead unpackaged turkey virus with loose gelatin and shellfish fiber, and a live turkey virus that is currently used as a vaccine in turkeys to see which allows the body to protect itself without causing side effects We showed that using plastic beads of similar size to empty gelatin and shellfish fiber packages creates the preferred packaged plastic bead measurements. The shellfish fiber kept the packages intact and from falling apart, so no additional chemicals were needed. The preservative used to kill the virus worked while still keeping the virus recognizable to the body. This new packaging for vaccines is a breakthrough in vaccine development and will allow us to change injectable vaccines to drinkable vaccines in other animals and humans.

Influenza A virus (IAV) is a major cause of serious respiratory illness worldwide, leading to approximately 5 million severe cases and 500,000 deaths per year. Given the disease severity, associated economic costs, and recent appearance of novel IAV strains, there is a renewed interest in developing novel and efficacious “universal” IAV vaccination strategies as well as therapeutic remedies. Previous studies from our laboratory have concentrated on IAV-specific CD8 T cell-mediated protection against IAV infection as IAV-specific CD8 T cells are needed for efficient clearance of virus. Recent studies highlight that immunizations capable of generating local (i.e., nasal mucosa and lung) tissue-resident memory T and B cells in addition to systemic immunity offer the greatest protection against future IAV encounters. Current IAV vaccines are designed to largely stimulate IAV-specific antibodies, but do not generate the lung-resident memory T and B cells induced during IAV infections. In order to effectively generate lung-resident memory populations, it is believed a local antigen depot is needed as tissue-resident memory formation is enhanced by the presence of local antigen. Recently, polyanhydride nanoparticles have been demonstrated to slowly release their contents at the site of inoculation serving as an antigen depot. However, the ability of an intranasal vaccination with polyanhydride nanoparticles to induce IAV-specific lung-resident immune responses and provide protection against subsequent IAV infection has not been determined. Here, I report on the intranasal administration of a biocompatible polyanhydride nanoparticle-based IAV vaccine (IAV-nanovax). IAV-nanovax is capable of providing protection against subsequent homologous and heterologous IAV infections in both inbred and outbred populations. My findings demonstrate that vaccination with IAV-nanovax promotes the induction of germinal center B cells within the lungs that are associated with both systemic IAV-specific IgG as well as local lung IAV-specific IgG and IgA antibodies. Furthermore, intranasal IAV-nanovax vaccination leads to a significant increase in IAV-specific CD4 and CD8 T cells within the lung vasculature as well as in the lung tissue. Most importantly, my studies demonstrate that IAV-nanovax induced lung-resident IAV-specific CD4 and CD8 T cells express canonical tissue-resident memory markers. This dissertation further explores a novel regulation pathway previously identified by our laboratory where plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) eliminate IAV-specific CD8 T cells early during high-dose and high-pathogenic IAV infections in a FasL:Fas (pDCs:CD8 T cell) dependent manner. However, recent studies suggest that B cells are the predominate lymphocyte to express FasL in mice. Here, I demonstrate that FasLpos B cells greatly outnumber FasLpos pDC within the lung draining lymph nodes (dLNs) during IAV infections. Interestingly, my results demonstrate the presence of two subsets, CD11cpos and CD11cneg, of FasL-expressing B cells that differentially influence the IAV-specific CD8 T cell response during high-dose IAV infections. While CD11cneg B cells kill IAV-specific CD8 T cells, contributing to lethality during high-dose IAV infections, CD11cpos B cells may instead be protective. In addition to the negative impacts of high-dose IAV infections, I also demonstrate that chronic ethanol (EtOH) consumption detrimentally impacts existing IAV-specific CD8 T cell memory responses. Here, my results reveal that chronic EtOH consumption causes a numerical loss in existing IAV-specific CD8 T cell memory responses. This numerical loss in existing IAV-specific CD8 T cell memory is associated with a reduction in cytotoxic activity within the lungs as well as an increase in morbidity and mortality during a secondary IAV challenge. Together, the results presented herein demonstrate the ability of a novel polyanhydride nanovaccine to induce robust pulmonary IAV-specific T and B cell responses and further our understanding of factors that can negatively impact IAV-specific CD8 T cells as well as protection against IAV infection. Overall these findings highlight the importance of IAV-specific CD8 T cells, as well as CD4 T cells and B cells, in providing protection against IAV infections.

Submitted by Marlene Santos (marlene.bc.ufg@gmail.com) on 2018-12-04T17:08:35Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Lázaro Moreira Marques Neto - 2018.pdf: 4983908 bytes, checksum: 78504fbead82e1981e7577763889e31e (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-12-05T10:32:28Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Lázaro Moreira Marques Neto - 2018.pdf: 4983908 bytes, checksum: 78504fbead82e1981e7577763889e31e (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-05T10:32:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Lázaro Moreira Marques Neto - 2018.pdf: 4983908 bytes, checksum: 78504fbead82e1981e7577763889e31e (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-10-09 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás - FAPEG / The search for new adjuvants is the main goal in vaccinology. Along with this, understanding the impact of using nanoparticles as a delivery system and immunomodulator in vaccine systems directly impacts the development of new vaccines. In this work, we seek to study and elucidate the adjuvanticity of magnetic nanoparticles, as well as its immunogenicity and protection of the vaccine systems. Initially, a literature review was made seeking scientific bases that demonstrated the possibility of using metallic nanoparticles (MeNPs) as innate immune system stimulators. It was also sought to find elements in which metallic nanoparticles could aid in the generation Th1, Th17 and T CD8 type cellular response. From this review, it was verified that the magnetic nanoparticles, or with metallic ions, were able to stimulate the activation of costimulatory molecules (CD80, CD40 and CD86), to induce secretion of cytokines (IL-1, IL-6, IFN-γ and TNF-α) as well as the humoral immune response, but no work demonstrated whether these nanoparticles were able to induce cellular response. Consequently, in the second part of the study, tuberculosis was used as model to verify if a vaccine formulation with a magnetic nanoparticle of manganese ferrite combined with recombinant fusion protein would have the ability to induce a protective cellular immune response, without adding other adjuvants. The nanoparticle was coated with recombinant CMX fusion protein and BALB/c mice were vaccinated with this formulation, in protocol with three vaccinations with 21-day intervals. Subsequently, the vaccinated animals were infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (H37Rv) to evaluate the protection conferred by the vaccine. The results showed that the nanoparticle was able to generate cellular immune responses of Th1, Th17 and T CD8 types, depending on the route of inoculation (subcutaneous, intranasal and mixed). The most preeminent response was Tc1 which was recalled after infection was able to protect against the challenge with Mtb. In addition, there was no appearance of side effects or damage to organs of infected animals, demonstrating that the formulation is safe. Finally, the vaccine formulations with MeNPs, more specifically with manganese ferrite, demonstrate potential application in vaccinology, and may be applied in vaccine formulations to generate cellular immune response, but the route must be considered and in case of use other adjuvants it should consider the possible interaction of NP with the molecule and their ligand. / A busca por novos adjuvantes é um dos objetivos principais dentro da vacinologia. Juntamente com isso, entender o impacto do uso de nanopartículas como sistema de entrega e imunomodulador em sistemas vacinais impacta diretamente no desenvolvimento de novas vacinas. Nesse trabalho, buscamos estudar e elucidar a adjuvanticidade de nanopartículas magnéticas, bem como a imunogenicidade e proteção de sistemas vacinais utilizando essas nanopartículas. Inicialmente foi feito uma revisão da literatura buscando bases científicas que demonstrassem a possiblidade do uso de nanopartículas metálicas (MeNPs) como estimuladores do sistema imune inato. Buscou-se também encontrar elementos em que as nanopartículas metálicas pudessem auxiliar na geração de uma resposta celular do tipo Th1, Th17 e T CD8. A partir dessa revisão, verificou-se que as nanopartículas magnéticas, ou com íons metálicos, eram capazes de estimular a ativação de moléculas coestimuladoras (CD80, CD40 e CD86), induzir secreção de citocinas (IL-1, IL-6, IFN-γ e TNF-α) bem como a resposta imune humoral, mas nenhum trabalho demonstrou se essas nanopartículas eram capazes de induzir resposta celular. Consequentemente, na segunda parte do trabalho utilizou-se a tuberculose como modelo de estudo para verificar se uma formulação vacinal com uma nanopartícula magnética de ferrita de manganês combinada com proteína de fusão recombinante, teria capacidade indutora de resposta imune celular protetora, sem adição de outros adjuvantes. A nanopartícula foi recoberta com a proteína de fusão recombinante CMX e os camundongos BALB/c foram vacinados com essa formulação, em protocolo com três vacinações com intervalos de 21 dias. Posteriormente, os animais vacinados foram infectados com Mycobacterium tuberculosis (H37Rv) para se avaliar a proteção conferida pela vacina. Os resultados mostraram que a nanopartícula teve capacidade de gerar resposta imune celular dos tipos Th1, Th17 e T CD8, dependendo da via de inoculação (subcutânea, intranasal ou mista). Essa resposta foi principalmente do tipo Tc1 e foi capaz de proteger contra o desafio com Mtb. Adicionalmente, não houve qualquer aparecimento de efeito colateral ou danos em órgãos dos animais infectados, demonstrando que a formulação é segura. Por fim, as formulações vacinais com MeNPs, mais especificamente com ferrita de manganês, então demonstram potencial aplicação em vacinologia, podendo ser aplicada em formulações vacinais para gerar resposta imune celular, mas deve-se levar em conta a rota e, caso for utilizar outros adjuvantes complementares, deve-se pensar na possível interação da NP com o adjuvantes e seus ligantes.