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Next-generation vaccines are considered a promising approach to combating future disease outbreaks. Recent advancements in vaccine technologies have sped up the development of efficacious vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic and are being tested for other pathogens. However, there remain many challenges for next-generation vaccines, which should target conserved epitopes, induce durable protection, and inhibit transmission of the disease-causing agent.
This cross-journal Collection welcomes submissions that propose technological advancements in vaccine/antigen design, target combinations, delivery systems for any pathogen groups, as well as adjunctive therapies. We encourage preclinical and clinical studies that evaluate vaccine safety and efficacy, including studies that test delivery routes, timing, and booster doses as part of the immunisation strategy. Moreover, epidemiological studies assessing or modeling coverage and effectiveness, with the aim to provide insight for further research, and guidance for policymakers, licensure, and regulatory framework will be considered.
This Collection is regularly updated with new content, selected by our editorial teams. Authors should refer to the aims and scope of Nature Communications, npj Vaccines, Communications Medicine, and Scientific Reports to determine the most appropriate journal for their manuscript. Submissions are welcome on a rolling basis.
Immunization via the respiratory route is predicted to increase the effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Here, Kaiser et al. describe a murine pneumonia virus vectored vaccine expressing spike protein, and show that intranasal immunization of male rhesus macaques provides good mucosal and systemic immunogenicity and efficacy.
Here the authors describe a stabilization technology that engineers crosslinks between tyrosine sidechains into a natively folded vaccine immunogen and show that immunogenicity is improved in small animal models by locking the most potently neutralizing epitopes.
Here the authors screen different lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulations for intramuscular delivery of plasmid DNA and uptake by antigen-presenting cells. The lead LNP exhibits immunogenicity and protection in small animal models that is comparable to approved SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine formulations.
Here the authors develop a mucosal SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and show immunogenicity and protection in mice as well as reduced virus transmission in hamsters. This protein vaccine consists of a stabilized spike protein fused to monomeric IgG Fc, supporting its transport across epithelial barriers by binding to the neonatal Fc receptor.
Protein antigens, such as HIV envelope protein, require adjuvants for high immunogenicity. Here the authors show that a combined adjuvant approach with slow antigen delivery and potent ISCOMs adjuvant primes robust germinal center activity and humoral immunity in non-human primates. pSer-modified antigen shifts immunodominance to allow subdominant epitope-targeting of rare B cells.
Here the authors use structure-based design to engineer a single component immunogen that mimics the malaria parasite AMA1-RON2 complex required for invasion of host cells, and show that it elicits a potent strain-transcending antibody response in rats.
Here, Heitmann et al. report results from a Phase I/II trial evaluating CoVac-1, a peptide-based T-cell activator, in patients with B-cell deficiency, demonstrating potent induction of SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses along with a favorable safety profile.