Designing better cytomegalovirus-based vaccines: boosting mucosal immunity
Project title: Designing better cytomegalovirus-based vaccines: boosting mucosal immunity
Call title: Installation Research Projects
Call code: UIP-2025-02-5202
Funding source: Croatian Science Foundation
Applicant name: University of Rijeka, Faculty of Medicine
Coordinator: Asst. Prof. Maja Cokarić Brdovčak, PhD
Research Team, University of Rijeka Faculty of Medicine:
- Jelena Materljan Franki, MD, PhD
- Marko Šustić, MD, PhD
Project implementation period: 01.04.2026 – 31.03.2031
Total project value: EUR 299.980,00
Brief description:
The global COVID-19 pandemic underscored the devastating impact of respiratory pathogens and highlighted the urgent need to improve current vaccination strategies. In particular, it prompted interest in incorporating mucosal immunity into vaccine design, due to its critical role in frontline defense against respiratory infections. Growing body of evidence suggests that mucosal vaccines have the potential to elicit robust cellular and humoral immune responses resulting in sterilizing immunity by blocking pathogen attachment and entry at epithelial surfaces. One of the approaches that could be exploited in the development of mucosal vaccines is the use of viruses that persist in the mucosal tissues and induce robust and long-lasting immune responses at these sites. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a ubiquitous ß-herpesvirus that establishes life-long latent infection in its host. CMV has several characteristics that make it an ideal vaccine vector and so far, numerous preclinical studies have demonstrated the value of CMV as a vaccine vector in diverse infectious and cancer models. In this project, we aim to: (1) Evaluate the capacity of CMV-based vector vaccine to elicit antigen-specific antibody responses against respiratory pathogens in the mucosal compartment; (2) identify host factors that regulate IgA secretion following MCMV immunization; (3) investigate viral determinants influencing IgA induction upon vaccination and (4) explore innovative vector engineering strategies to develop next-generation mucosal vaccines capable of eliciting potent and durable cellular and humoral immune responses. Altogether, this research will contribute to our understanding of mechanisms driving protective mucosal immunity, a key step toward the development of more effective vaccines against a broad spectrum of respiratory pathogens.
