Northwestern Scientists Demonstrate Vaccine Structure Boosts Efficacy

Northwestern University researchers report in Science Advances on Feb. 11 that altering the orientation and placement of a single HPV-derived peptide within spherical nucleic acid (SNA) vaccines dramatically increases CD8+ T cell responses against HPV-positive tumors. The N-terminal surface display induced up to eightfold higher interferon-gamma, slowed tumor growth in humanized mice, and doubled-to-tripled cancer cell killing in patient tumor samples, suggesting a structural design rule for more potent therapeutic nanovaccines.