Fig. 2: Enhancement of the protective potency of mRNA vaccine by multiple surface antigens. | Nature Communications

Fig. 2: Enhancement of the protective potency of mRNA vaccine by multiple surface antigens.

From: An mRNA vaccine against monkeypox virus inhibits infection by co-activation of humoral and cellular immune responses

Fig. 2

a Schematic diagram of the immunization and challenge experiments for multicomponent mRNA vaccines. Created in BioRender. Tian, C. (2025) https://BioRender.com/s30e801. The designed 4-valent, 8-valent, and 12-valent mRNA vaccines, comprising 4, 8, and 12 antigens, respectively. These vaccines were formulated by an equal-ratio mixture of mRNAs for each component and named as Mix-4, Mix-8, and Mix-12, accordingly. b Neutralizing antibody titers (NT50) induced by different mRNA vaccines. The neutralizing antibodies titers (NT50) induced by Mix-4, Mix-8, and Mix-12 were measured by plaque reduction neutralization tests. PBS-immunized groups were included as controls. NT50 is indicated as mean ± SEM. (n = 6 per group). c Heatmaps demonstrating IgG subclass levels in the serum from immunized mice (n = 6 per group). Heatmaps were created using the hiplot online platform (https://hiplot.com.cn/). d Protective potency of plasma passive transfusion. Three-week-old BALB/c mice (n = 6) were transfused with 200 μl of plasma from immunized mice and challenged with MPXV (1.0 × 106 PFU) via intranasal inoculation. Viral titers in the lungs were measured using a standard plaque assay. e Proliferation of epitope-specific splenocytes producing IFN-γ following stimulation. IFN-γ-producing epitope-specific splenocytes were assessed by ELISpot. Each point represents the mean of 3 technical replicates, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 10, and representative spots are shown. f Protective potency of CD8+ T cells and CD4+ T cells transfusion. (Created in BioRender. Tian, C. (2025) https://BioRender.com/h28r862). Three-week-old BALB/c mice (n = 6) were transfused with 2.0 × 107 CD8+ or CD4+ T cells sorted from immunized mice and intranasally inoculated with MPXV at the dose of 1.0 × 106 PFU. Mice were sacrificed 4 days post-infection, and lungs were harvested for viral load detection. Data are shown as mean ± SEM from individual mice (b, d, e, f). Two independent experiments were performed with 2 technical replicates (b–f). P values were determined by one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison post-hoc test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.

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