A Self-Amplifying Human Papillomavirus 16 Vaccine Candidate Delivered by Tobacco Mosaic Virus-Like Particles

Virus-like particles (VLPs) are naturally occurring delivery platforms with potential for mRNA vaccines that can be used as an alternative to lipid nanoparticles. Here we describe a self-amplifying mRNA vaccine based on tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) expressing a mutated E7 protein from human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16). E7 is an early gene that plays a central role in viral replication and the oncogenic transformation of host cells, but nononcogenic mutant E7 proteins can suppress this activity. Immunization studies involving the delivery of self-amplifying mutant E7 mRNA packaged with TMV coat proteins confirmed the elicitation of E7-specific IgG antibodies. Additional