Nanoparticle vaccine for COVID-19 spurs robust immune response in preclinical tests The novel vaccine technology, developed at Scripps Research, uses virus-like protein nanoparticles to elicit high levels of protective antibodies.
September 21, 2020
LA JOLLA, CA In a new study that demonstrates the promise of a novel vaccine approach for COVID-19, Scripps Research scientist Jiang Zhu, PhD, showed that his protein nanoparticle technology successfully triggered a strong immune response in mice. Zhu, who co-founded the spinoff company Ufovax to commercialize the technology and manufacturing platform, says he hopes to advance the vaccine into clinical trials early next year.
The nanoparticle vaccine technology leverages a unique design that's unlike the majority of other COVID-19 vaccine candidates now in clinical testing. Each nanoparticle in the vaccine mimics the natural ball-like shape of a virus, which the immune system is trained to immediately recognize, explains Zhu, associate professor in the Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology.
These microscopic spheres are then studded with spike proteins resembling those of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Spike proteins are the tools this virus uses to efficiently attach to and infect healthy cells, so we need the immune system to recognize them as the enemy, Zhu says. Our vaccine design enables immune cells to encounter these proteins in a more natural conformation embedded on a spherical particle so they'll know what to do when they face the virus in real life.
By contrast, most experimental COVID-19 vaccines rely on full-length spike proteins that have been modified to remain stable in the body as they interact with the immune system; they are not connected to a virus-like particle. Thus, they may not generate strong enough of an antibody response to prevent COVID-19, Zhu says.
In his pursuit of a safer and more effective path to COVID-19 immunity, Zhu designed spike proteins and attached them to the spherical protein nanoparticles through an elegant self-assembly process he says will ensure the forming a ball-shape particle of a fixed size and enable efficient vaccine production on an industrial scale.
Notably, as part of their work to optimize the spike protein, he and his team identified a problematic element of the spike called the HR2 stalk, which is a flexible hinge connecting the spike to the virus surface, and decided to delete that segment from spike proteins used in the vaccine.
The scientists then tested the nanoparticle vaccine against the altered spike protein known as S2P that's used in most other vaccines, as well as against their own engineered spike protein. To determine efficacy of each approach, they measured antibody responses in mice.
Zhu's nanoparticle vaccine elicited neutralizing antibodies at levels of up to ten times greater than the S2P spike proteins alone and induced critically needed T-cell immunity. The research appears in bioRxiv, an open-access repository of studies not yet published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
Our study provides a promising next-generation COVID-19 vaccine candidate that is ready for evaluation in human trials, Zhu says.
Zhu has previously used his nanoparticle technology to develop investigational vaccines for other infectious diseases including SARS, MERS, HIV, RSV, Ebola, malaria and tuberculosis.
The study, Self-assembling nanoparticles presenting receptor binding domain and stabilized spike as next-generation COVID-19 vaccines, was authored by Linling He, Xiaohe Lin, Ying Wang, Ciril Abraham, Cindy Sou, Timothy Ngo, Yi Zhang, Ian Wilson and Jiang Zhu.
The work was funded by the National Institutes of Health [AI129698 and AI140844] and Ufovax. Ufovax holds exclusive intellectual property rights to the technology and several vaccine products, including for COVID-19.
COVID-19 Zhu, Jiang
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
13/11/2026
The UIM E1 Series wraps its third season this week with the Bombay Sapphire E1 Miami GP, Nov. 11-14, on Biscayne Bay at the Miami Seaplane Base on Watson Island...
13/11/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
13/11/2026
Singer-songwriter Benson Boone will headline entertainment for the Discover NHL Winter Classic between the Utah Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche at Rice-Eccles St...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone, a 7th order ambisonic microphone array that captures spatial audio for immersive video prod...
13/11/2026
SMPTE has announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infrastructure and communications technology for the Solutions Hub at t...
13/11/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced the theme and program focus for the 2027 HPA Tech Retreat, which takes place Feb. 14-18, 2027, in La ...
13/11/2026
Football Manager 27 Touch is available on Apple Arcade starting today. The game ...
13/11/2026
MotoGP has announced a two-year media rights agreement with ESPN covering the Un...
13/11/2026
Apple Sports, the free iPhone app, has added the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to its lineup of supported sports, in time for Saturday's UFC 334. The...
13/11/2026
The NBA and Fanatics Studios, the joint venture between Fanatics and entertainme...
13/11/2026
ESPN held its annual EDGE Innovation Conference last night and offered up an ove...
13/11/2026
Regional sports network gives Ithaca College, SUNY Cortland students a platform to thrive
One of the biggest games in Division III college football will be pla...
13/11/2026
Studer-inspired 500-series PWM compressor unveiled
The HLabs range already includes a couple of Studer-inspired offerings in the form of the PRE169 and EQ16...
13/11/2026
Download Now!
To view the white paper, please enter the following details:
--
First Name* First Name
Company*
Country* Please select your countryA...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Blue Lucy, the workflow orchestration and integration platform for broadcasters, rights owners and localisation companies, today announced an integration with c...
13/11/2026
Krotos announces Black Friday offers on Studio Pro and Studio Max
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
First-year annual plans start at US$195.99...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
New 7th order ambisonic microphone with 108 MEMS...
13/11/2026
Meet the Berklee Student Setting Planetary Motion to Music With his compositional platform SoniKosmos, Javier Roqueni aims to make the universe the ultimate i...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Amagi, the media industry cloud company, today announced a partnership with Golden Times Media Technology (stock code 920021.BJ), a Beijing-based media and tech...
13/11/2026
CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), one of the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world, together with its Malaysian partner, Cedar ...
13/11/2026
SMPTE, the home for media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infra...
13/11/2026
iWedia, a global leader in connected TV software solutions, will present its software-first approach to DRAM optimization at Android TV APAC Summit 2026 in Bang...
13/11/2026
Beginning today, November 13, Apple HomeView is available for purchase at Apple Store locations, on the Apple Store online, and in the Apple Store app in select...
13/11/2026
From pediatric research to smart hospitals, AI is helping care teams spend less time on routine tasks and more time with patients.
Health systems and startups...
12/11/2026
Industry leaders examine how Dynamic Media Facility, Media eXchange Layer, and c...
12/11/2026
The junior Tar Heel is embracing the technical and creative challenges of live production while emerging as a leader and mentor in the control room...
12/11/2026
Gracenote, Nielsen's content intelligence business, has released its fifth a...
12/11/2026
RTL Deutschland will bring the NHL to free-to-air TV in Germany starting Nov. 30...
12/11/2026
Clear-Com supported On Air 2026, a 24-hour student-led broadcast connecting 45 u...
12/11/2026
uniqFEED has opened a Remote Operations Center (ROC) in Madrid, Spain. It is already operational, delivering virtual advertising for LaLiga matches. The ROC is ...
12/11/2026
Disney, ESPN and the NBA will present Dunk the Halls, the third real-time animated NBA game using Sony's Beyond Sports data visualization technology, on Chr...
12/11/2026
Van Wagner has launched Van Wagner RELAY, a digital platform for official athlet...
12/11/2026
Deal brings together two of the industry's most established graphics brands and significantly expands Vizrt's footprint in U.S. sports and regional broa...
12/11/2026
Euro TV Production GmbH of Austria has upgraded its outside broadcast vehicle with Lawo technology. The mc 36 Classic console in service since 2019 was replaced...
12/11/2026
Tagboard has launched Spark Resize, an AI-assisted tool now in beta that takes an existing graphic and produces a new version for a different aspect ratio or sc...
Nanoparticle vaccine for COVID-19 spurs robust immune response in preclinical tests The novel vaccine technology, developed at Scripps Research, uses virus-like protein nanoparticles to elicit high levels of protective antibodies.
