Grant Award Details
- To select a drug delivery platform that will boost T memory stem cells and enhance vaccine response against SARS-CoV-2 with the intention of helping to protect the elderly with declined immune responses.
Progress Reports
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Grant Application Details
- Biomaterial vaccine to enhance the formation of SARS-CoV-2-specific T memory stem cells
Research Objective
The objective of this project is to develop an injectable biomaterial platform that can induce TMSCs and boost immunoactivation to vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, which will help protect elderly people.
Impact
This approach will boost T memory stem cell production to enhance immunization, and address the low/weak immunoresponses to vaccines, especially in the elderly and patients with immune deficiency.
Major Proposed Activities
- Fabricate artificial antigen presenting cells (aAPCs). (month 1 – month 3)
- Enhanced affinity and prolonged release of cytokines. (month 2 – month 4)
- Preparation and integration of biomaterial vaccine. (month 3– month 5)
- Engineer the fate and functions of murine and human T cells in vitro. (month 5 – month 8)
- Perform in vivo immunization assays. (month 8 – month 10)
- Study the formation of TMSCs in vivo. (month 9 – month 11)
Vaccine will be essential to stop the spread of COVID-19 in California and world wide. However, vaccine may not be effective enough for the people who need them most: elderly population who have declined immunue responses to vaccines. The biomaterial-based vaccine proposed here will boost the effectiveness of the vaccination for the elderly people and patients with other diseases, and will help fight COVID-19 virus, flus and other infectious diseases.
Publications
- Matter (2021) Biomaterial-based immunoengineering to fight COVID-19 and infectious diseases. (PubMed: 33723531)
- Biodes Manuf (2021) Application of lung microphysiological systems to COVID-19 modeling and drug discovery: a review. (PubMed: 34178414)