Scientists at Scripps Research, working with IAVI and other institutes, announced on Apr. 11 the development of a new platform that enables the study of viral surface proteins in a form closer to their natural state. The approach uses nanodisc technology to embed these proteins into lipid-based particles, preserving their membrane-like structure.
This development is significant because it could help researchers better understand how antibodies recognize and neutralize viruses, potentially guiding more effective vaccine design. Traditionally, laboratory-made versions of viral surface proteins lack key regions anchored in membranes, making it difficult to replicate real-life interactions between viruses and the immune system.
The research team tested this platform using HIV and Ebola virus proteins—two pathogens that have posed challenges for vaccine developers due to their complex surface structures. According to findings published in Nature Communications on Feb. 10, the nanodiscs allowed scientists to observe antibody binding and protein structure with greater accuracy than before.
"Putting all of these components together into a single, reliable system was the key," said first author Kimmo Rantalainen, a senior scientist in Schief's lab. "The individual pieces already existed, but making them work together in a way that's reproducible and scalable opens up new possibilities for how vaccines are analyzed and designed." Rantalainen added that this approach revealed previously unseen details about how antibodies interact with membrane-embedded regions of viral proteins: "The structure gave us a level of detail we simply couldn't access before... It showed us new interactions at the membrane interface and suggested why those matter for antibody function."
To demonstrate versatility beyond HIV studies, researchers also applied their method to Ebola virus proteins and found similar success identifying antibody interactions within a realistic membrane context. The platform allows rapid preparation—reducing timelines from about a month to roughly one week—and can be used as molecular bait for isolating immune cells responding to vaccine candidates.
While not itself a vaccine candidate, scientists say this tool may speed up evaluation processes for next-generation vaccines targeting viruses like influenza or SARS-CoV-2. Schief concluded: "This gives the field a more realistic, accurate way to test ideas early on... By improving how we study viral proteins and antibody responses, we hope this platform will help advance next-generation vaccines against some of the world's most challenging viruses."
