This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

In this preclinical two-dose mucosal immunization study, using a combination of S1 spike and nucleocapsid proteins with cationic (N3)/or anionic (L3) lipids were investigated using an intranasal delivery route. The study showed that nasal administration of low amounts of antigens/adjuvants induced a primary and secondary immune response in systemic IgG, mIL-5, and IFN-gamma secreting T lymphocytes, as well as humoral IgA in nasal and intestinal mucosal compartments. It is believed that recipients will benefit from receiving a combination of viral antigens in promoting a border immune response against present and evolving contagious viruses. Lipid adjuvants demonstrated an enhanced response in the vaccine effect. This was seen in the significant immunogenicity effect when using the cationic lipid N3. Unlike L3, which showed a recognizable effect when administrated at a slightly higher concentration. Moreover, the findings of the study proved the efficiency of an intranasally mucosal immunization strategy, which can be less painful and more effective in enhancing the respiratory tract immunity against respiratory infectious diseases.

No abstract

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) provides a means to probe the time-preserved structural state(s) of bio-macromolecules in solution. As such, SANS affords the opportunity to assess the redistribution of mass, i.e., changes in conformation, which occur when macromolecules interact to form higher-order assemblies and to evaluate the structure and disposition of components within such systems. As a technique, SANS offers scope for ‘out of the box thinking’, from simply investigating the structures of macromolecules and their complexes through to where structural biology interfaces with soft-matter and nanotechnology. All of this simply rests on the way neutrons interact and scatter from atoms (largely hydrogens) and how this interaction differs from the scattering of neutrons from the nuclei of other ‘biological isotopes’. The following chapter describes the basics of neutron scattering for new users of structural biology in context of the neutron/hydrogen interaction and how this can be exploited to interrogate the structures of macromolecules, their complexes and nano-conjugates in solution.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.