The Key Role of Proteins from Szeged in Future Vaccine Development

At the protein biochemistry unit of the Institute of Biochemistry at the HUN-REN Szeged Biological Research Center (HUN-REN SZBK), under the leadership of Zoltán Lipinszki, a research infrastructure and methodological know-how have been established that enable the rational design, production, high-purity synthesis, and quality control of proteins and antigens required for experiments, as well as their targeted modification and labeling.

With the help of these antigens, it has become possible to compare the effects of different vaccines, and it has become clear which component stimulates immune cells in what way and what molecular mechanisms it triggers to activate the immune system.

Over the past ten years, the research group has produced nearly one hundred recombinant proteins, including numerous antigens that serve as recognizable “targets” for the immune system. These were previously unavailable or only partially accessible. The developments also encompassed the optimization of the proteins’ solubility, spatial structure, stability, and functionality.

A Key Role in Unraveling the Mechanism of mRNA-LNP Vaccines

The work of the researchers in Szeged was essential to the study published in the journal Cell around Christmas, which, as part of an international collaboration, investigated how mRNA-LNP-based vaccines elicit an effective immune response in mice. The researchers demonstrated that the vaccine’s two main components—the mRNA and the tiny lipid shell (lipid nanoparticle – LNP)—affect the activation of the immune system separately and in different ways, but together they more strongly promote the formation of antibodies that play a role in defense.

This would not have been possible without the model antigens produced in Szeged, which consist of functional fragments of molecules found on the surface of the influenza A and SARS-CoV-2 viruses that aid viral function and are recognizable by the immune system.

This current research is the first to demonstrate, in molecular and cellular biological detail, that the lipid nanoparticle used in mRNA vaccines is not merely “packaging” but an active participant in the development of the immune response. Furthermore, the research was the first to confirm that the mRNA component itself has an immune cell-modulating effect and activates signaling pathways that are essential for the body’s defense.

Measurements conducted using recombinant proteins created by Zoltán Lipinszki and Edit Ábrahám made it possible to isolate and quantify these effects. Thanks to this, the picture of how mRNA and lipid nanoparticles work together to activate the immune system has become complete, marking an important milestone for future targeted vaccine development.

Further detailed information on this topic is available here:

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(25)01358-3