Intranasal delivery of nanoparticles encapsulating BPI3V proteins induces an early humoral immune response in mice

Vaccine adjuvants are typically designed to stimulate both systemic and mucosal immune responses. Polymeric nanoparticles have been used as adjuvants in the development of vaccines against a number of viral pathogens and tested in laboratory animals. The objective of the study was to assess if synthetic bovine parainfluenza virus type-3 (BPI3V) peptide motifs and solubilised BPI3V proteins encapsulated in poly (dl-lactic-co-glycolide) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) induce specific humoral immune responses in a mouse model following intranasal administration. BPI3V-specific and peptide specific IgG ELISAs were used to measure serum IgG levels to BPI3V. Intranasal delivery of PLGA nanoparticles encapsulating BPI3V proteins elicited an early, gradually increasing BPI3V-specific IgG response that persisted over the subsequent 6 weeks, suggesting slow, persistent release of antigen. PLGA-BPI3V particles administered intranasally induced a stronger IgG antibody response at an earlier time point compared with solubilised BPI3V antigen alone. Such an approach could be deployed in the development of new generation vaccines.