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ScienceQuiet 6d · day 9

MIT engineers design modular phage nanoparticles for personalized cancer vaccines

A reengineered M13 virus nanofiber coated with tunable densities of tumor antigens blocked colon tumor growth in mice, offering a customizable vaccine platform.

newest coverage 6d agosummary written 6d ago8 pieces5 likes & upvotes Google NewsNewswiresHacker NewsReddit

What to know

  • The vaccine backbone is a modified, harmless bacteriophage (M13) engineered into a nanofiber scaffold that can be coated with cancer antigens.
  • Controlling the density of antigens attached to the phage's pVIII capsid protein was key to generating a protective immune response in mice.
  • The platform is modular, meaning antigens could in principle be swapped to create vaccines tailored to individual patients' specific tumors.
  • Findings come from decades of work in Belcher's lab repurposing M13 phage scaffolds, previously used for batteries, solar cells and other materials, for medical/vaccine applications.

Angela Belcher Senior author, MIT professorShengnan Huang Lead author, research scientistJack Rudrum Co-author, graduate studentHuaiyao Peng Co-author, graduate studentHao Nghi Luu Co-author, graduate student

How it unfolded 3 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts

Peak 3 pieces in 3h at Oct 30, 9 AM; 8 pieces over 10 days (6 articles · 2 posts) Oct 30, 12 AM — 1 piece · 1 article — Google News 1Oct 30, 3 AM — quietOct 30, 6 AM — quietOct 30, 9 AM — 3 pieces · 3 articles — Google News 2, Newswires 1Oct 30, 12 PM — quietOct 30, 3 PM — quietOct 30, 6 PM — quietOct 30, 9 PM — 2 pieces · 2 articles — Google News 2Oct 31, 12 AM — quietOct 31, 3 AM — quietOct 31, 6 AM — quietOct 31, 9 AM — quietOct 31, 12 PM — quietOct 31, 3 PM — quietOct 31, 6 PM — quietOct 31, 9 PM — quietNov 1, 12 AM — quietNov 1, 2 AM — quietNov 1, 5 AM — quietNov 1, 8 AM — quietNov 1, 11 AM — quietNov 1, 2 PM — quietNov 1, 5 PM — quietNov 1, 8 PM — quietNov 1, 11 PM — quietNov 2, 2 AM — quietNov 2, 5 AM — quietNov 2, 8 AM — 2 pieces · 2 posts — Hacker News 1, Reddit 1Nov 2, 11 AM — quietNov 2, 2 PM — quietNov 2, 5 PM — quietNov 2, 8 PM — quietNov 2, 11 PM — quietNov 3, 2 AM — quietNov 3, 5 AM — quietNov 3, 8 AM — quietNov 3, 11 AM — quietNov 3, 2 PM — quietNov 3, 5 PM — quietNov 3, 8 PM — quietNov 3, 11 PM — quietNov 4, 2 AM — quietNov 4, 5 AM — quietNov 4, 8 AM — quietNov 4, 11 AM — quietNov 4, 2 PM — quietNov 4, 5 PM — quietNov 4, 8 PM — quietNov 4, 11 PM — quietNov 5, 2 AM — quietNov 5, 5 AM — quietNov 5, 8 AM — quietNov 5, 11 AM — quietNov 5, 2 PM — quietNov 5, 5 PM — quietNov 5, 8 PM — quietNov 5, 11 PM — quietNov 6, 2 AM — quietNov 6, 5 AM — quietNov 6, 8 AM — quietNov 6, 11 AM — quietNov 6, 2 PM — quietNov 6, 5 PM — quietNov 6, 8 PM — quietNov 6, 11 PM — quietYesterday, 2 AM — quietYesterday, 5 AM — quietYesterday, 8 AM — quietYesterday, 11 AM — quietYesterday, 2 PM — quietYesterday, 5 PM — quietYesterday, 8 PM — quietYesterday, 11 PM — quietToday, 2 AM — quietToday, 5 AM — quietToday, 8 AM — quiet 1–23
Oct 31Nov 1Nov 2Nov 3Nov 4Nov 5Nov 6yesterdaynow · 11:25 AM ET
  1. 3

    Story resurfaces on Hacker News

    A link to the MIT News writeup was posted to Hacker News, though it drew no comments at the time captured.

    “The great thing about this is that it’s modular and we could switch out different antigens on demand, so you could design it to be patient-specific and target a known antigen for a particular kind of cancer…”
    — Angela Belcher, MIT professor, senior author · source
  2. 2 days quiet
  3. 2

    Coverage of the nanoparticle vaccine spreads via science press outlets

    Phys.org, Nanowerk, Interesting Engineering and News-Medical republished or summarized the MIT findings, describing the phage nanofiber's potential for personalized cancer vaccines.

    1. 2 outlets Customizable nanoparticles show potential for delivering personalized cancer vaccines

      first by Phys.org, 9d ago · also Google News · Health

      1 more headline
    2. 1 outlet MIT's viral nanofiber could help create personalized cancer vaccines

      first by Interesting Engineering, 8d ago

  4. background

    Researchers explain how antigen density drives immune response — The team modified the phage's pVIII capsid protein to attach cancer antigens and found that precisely controlling antigen density on the nanofiber was critical to generating an effective immune response, building on prior lab findings.

  5. 1

    MIT team publishes phage-based cancer vaccine nanoparticle study

    Angela Belcher's lab at the Koch Institute, with lead author Shengnan Huang, published findings in Advanced Healthcare Materials describing an M13 bacteriophage nanofiber that can be coated with cancer antigens to prevent colon tumor development in mice.

    1. 1 outlet Customizable nanoparticles improve cancer vaccine protection in mice

      first by Nanowerk, 9d ago

    2. 1 outlet MIT Engineers Develop Nanoparticles for Personalized Cancer Vaccines

      first by Mirage News, 9d ago