Improved DNA Vaccine Delivery with Needle-Free Injection Systems.

DNA vaccines have inherent advantages compared to other vaccine types, including safety, rapid design and construction, ease and speed to manufacture, and thermostability. However, a major drawback of candidate DNA vaccines delivered by needle and syringe is the poor immunogenicity associated with inefficient cellular uptake of the DNA. This uptake is essential because the target vaccine antigen is produced within cells and then presented to the immune system. Multiple techniques have been employed to boost the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of DNA vaccines, including physical delivery methods, molecular and traditional adjuvants, and genetic sequence enhancements. Needle-free injection systems (NFIS) are an attractive alternative due to the induction of potent immunogenicity, enhanced protective efficacy, and elimination of needles. These advantages led to a milestone achievement in the field with the approval for Restricted Use in Emergency Situation of a DNA vaccine against COVID-19, delivered exclusively with NFIS. In this review, we discuss physical delivery methods for DNA vaccines with an emphasis on commercially available NFIS and their resulting safety, immunogenic effectiveness, and protective efficacy. As is discussed, prophylactic DNA vaccines delivered by NFIS tend to induce non-inferior immunogenicity to electroporation and enhanced responses compared to needle and syringe.

Adenylosuccinate lyase deficiency.

Adenylosuccinate lyase deficiency is a disease of purine metabolism which affects patients both biochemically and behaviorally. The symptoms are variable and include psychomotor retardation, autistic features, hypotonia, and seizures. Patients also accumulate the substrates of ADSL in body fluids. Both the presence of normal levels of ADSL enzyme activities in some patient tissues and the absence of a clear correlation between mutations, biochemistry, and behavior show that the system has unexplored biochemical and/or genetic complexity. It is unclear whether the pathological mechanisms of this disease result from a deficiency of purines, a toxicity of intermediates, or perturbation of another pathway or system. A patient with autistic features and mild psychomotor delay carries two novel mutations in this gene, E80D and D87E. The creation of a mouse model of this disease will be an important step in elucidating the in vivo mechanisms of the disease. Mice carrying mutations that cause ADSL deficiency in humans will be informative as to the effects of these mutations both during embryogenesis and on the brain, possibly leading to therapies for this disease in the future.