EvoBiotech is proud to announce its latest publication on the use of extracellular vesicles derived from plants as a drug delivery system in the special issue “Advances of Membrane Vesicles in Drug Delivery Systems” of Pharmaceutics Journal. This work demonstrates the use of edible plant-derived extracellular vesicles to vehicle mRNA-based vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 using intramuscular, oral, and intranasal administration.

Here the abstract:

Plant-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) may represent a platform for the delivery of RNA-based vaccines, exploiting their natural membrane envelope to protect and deliver nucleic acids. In this study, EVs extracted from orange (Citrus sinensis) juice (oEVs) were investigated as carriers for oral and intranasal SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine. oEVs were efficiently loaded with different mRNA molecules (coding N, subunit 1 and full S proteins) and the mRNA was protected from degrading stress (including RNase and simulated gastric fluid), delivered to target cells and translated into protein. APC cells stimulated with oEVs loaded with mRNAs induced T lymphocyte activation in vitro. The immunization of mice with oEVs loaded with S1 mRNA via different routes of administration including intramuscular, oral and intranasal stimulated a humoral immune response with production of specific IgM and IgG blocking antibodies and a T cell immune response, as suggested by IFN-γ production by spleen lymphocytes stimulated with S peptide. Oral and intranasal administration also triggered the production of specific IgA, the mucosal barrier in the adaptive immune response. In conclusion, plant-derived EVs represent a useful platform for mRNA-based vaccines administered not only parentally but also orally and intranasally.

Read the complete article at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/15/3/974/htm