Single-helical formyl ß-glucan effectively deliver CpG DNA with poly(dA) to macrophages for enhanced vaccine effects

Single helical /3-glucan is a one-dimensional host that can form a hybrid helix with DNAs/RNAs as delivery systems. However, unmodified /3-glucan has a gelling tendency and a single helical conformation is challenging to obtain. Therefore, in this study, we developed a /3-glucan formyl derivative with stable single helical conformation and no gelling tendency. Circular dichroism studies found that the formyl-/3-glucan could form a hybrid helix with DNA CpG-poly(dA). The hybrid helix delivery system showed improved activation on antigen -presenting cells, thereby upregulating the mRNA and protein levels of inflammatory factors, and had an immune -enhancing effect on ovalbumin (OVA) immunized mice. These results indicate that formyl-/3-glucan can be developed as a non-cationic supramolecular DNA delivery platform with low toxicity and high efficiency.

Automated summary

In this study, a stable single helical β-glucan formyl derivative was developed as a DNA delivery platform, which showed low toxicity and high efficiency.