Most vaccines are delivered by injection, which increases the risk that HIV, hepatitis, and other serious diseases may be transmitted by syringes and needles that are not sterile. In the developing world, infections in the respiratory and intestinal tracts are major causes of sickness and death, especially among children. Vaccine delivery systems that can target respiratory or intestinal mucosal tissue and stimulate immune response there have the potential to be particularly effective against these infections.

Dr. Lo's project addresses two needs: the development of vaccine delivery systems that do not require needles and the design of systems that target specific tissues in the body.  Using influenza vaccination as a model, Dr. Lo and his team are working to bind vaccine to specially designed molecules that target mucosal tissue. While their study uses influenza vaccine as a focus, investigators expect the technology potentially could be applied to any pathogen that causes disease in mucosal tissue. They envision vaccines will be given either orally or as nasal spray.

Investigators are producing their first vaccine formulations with fusion proteins that contain influenza hemagglutinin and a targeting peptide, and are in the process of testing the fusion proteins for their ability to enhance immune response in mice.