Mucosal Delivery of HIV‐1 Glycoprotein Vaccine Candidate Enabled by Short Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV‐1) envelope glycoprotein spike is targeted by antibodies and therefore represents the main viral antigen for antibody‐based vaccine design. One of the challenges in HIV‐1 vaccine development is inducing efficient immune system recognition and response to the virus without establishing an infection. Since HIV‐1 enters the body at mucosal surfaces, induction of immune response at these sites is a preferred preventive approach. Nasal administration is an effective route for mucosal immunization since it can stimulate immune responses both locally and distantly. In this paper, Luna Labs develops a short carbon nanotube‐based delivery platform known as “CNTVac.” The size of carbon nanotubes is controlled to possess HIV‐1 particle‐like morphology capable of efficient intranasal delivery of a broad range of antigens. A polyethylene glycol‐lipid chain is localized between V1V2 antigens and serves to protect antigen conformation and enhance mucosal penetration. This is demonstrated to cause enhanced local immunoglobulin A and systemic antibody immunoglobulin G responses in mice and rabbits. CNTVac not only serves as an efficient delivery system but also reduces the amount of lipid required for vaccine dosing in order to eliminate potential adverse effects. These data suggest a promising platform technology for vaccine delivery.