Ultrasonic synthetic technique to manufacture a pHEMA nanopolymeric-based vaccine against the H6N2 avian influenza virus: a preliminary investigation

Abstract

Gérrard Eddy Jai Poinern1, Xuan Thi Le1, Songhua Shan2, Trevor Ellis3, Stan Fenwick3, John Edwards3, Derek Fawcett11Murdoch Applied Nanotechnology Research Group, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA, Australia; 2Australian Animal Health Laboratories, CSIRO, VIC, Australia; 3Veterinary School, School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA, AustraliaAbstract: This preliminary study investigated the use of poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) nanoparticles for the delivery of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) vaccine pCAG-HAk, which expresses the full length hemagglutinin (HA) gene of the avian influenza A/Eurasian coot/Western Australian/2727/1979 (H6N2) virus with a Kozak sequence which is in the form of a pCAGGS vector. The loaded and unloaded nanoparticles were characterized using field-emission scanning electron microscopy. Further characterizations of the nanoparticles were made using atomic force microscopy and dynamic light scattering, which was used to investigate particle size distributions. This preliminary study suggests that using 100 µg of pHEMA nanoparticles as a nanocarrier/adjuvant produced a reduction in virus shedding and improved the immune response to the DNA vaccine pCAG-HAk.Keywords: nanoparticles, ultrasound, deoxyribonucleic acid, plasmid, bird flu, pandemic