The Scripps Research Institute team, a top biomedical research institution in the United States, has turned nanoparticles into a "display box" for viruses and developed a new vaccine strategy to prevent various deadly filamentous virus infections. The research published by the team in the latest issue of Nature Communications states that this new vaccine can display the surface proteins of filamentous viruses on engineered self-assembled protein nanoparticles, helping the immune system to more effectively recognize and respond to viruses. Experiments have shown that it can induce the production of potent antibody responses against various viruses, providing a new pathway for the development of more extensive and effective protective strategies. The filamentous virus family includes various highly pathogenic viruses, such as Ebola virus, Sudan virus, Bundibugyo virus, and Marburg virus. Although two Ebola vaccines have been approved, there is currently no vaccine that can widely protect the entire family of filamentous viruses. One important reason why they are deadly is their unstable surface protein structure, which not only makes it difficult for the human immune system to recognize them, but also poses challenges to the development of vaccines and treatment methods. Over the past decade, the research team has been committed to using physics methods for protein design research, with the goal of establishing a universal vaccine design blueprint for each major virus family, in order to respond quickly in the event of a new virus outbreak. This time, they adopted the "structure based rational design" method to conduct detailed research on the surface glycoproteins of the virus, and constructed a structurally stable and morphologically regular version. These glycoproteins are crucial for the virus to invade host cells and are also the main targets of the immune system's attacks. The team assembled it on the surface of virus like protein nanoparticles, forming particles with a virus like structure, which is equivalent to creating a virus "display box" that can effectively stimulate immune responses. Experiments have shown that these nanoparticles can trigger extensive neutralizing antibody responses in mice. By further modifying the glycosylation sites, the team also successfully "demonstrated" the conserved regions on the surface of the virus, laying the foundation for the development of a more widespread and even universal filamentous virus vaccine. At present, the team is promoting this strategy to other high-risk pathogens such as Lassa virus and Nipah virus, and is committed to breaking through the virus's polysaccharide barrier, allowing the immune system to more effectively attack key parts of the virus. Team members stated that even if the antigen can be stabilized in an ideal state, it can only solve 60% of the problem. The dense polysaccharide layer on the surface of many viruses remains a major obstacle. And breaking this' invisibility cloak 'is their next important research direction. Although a virus is small, once it causes trouble, it can pose a serious threat to human life and health. Vaccines are one of the core weapons for humans to resist viruses. Compared to using the entire virus particle to activate the human immune system, the latest vaccine development adopts the strategy of "catching the thief first, catching the king", which precisely extracts key proteins on the surface of the virus - they are the "key" for the virus to invade host cells and the "target" for the immune system to recognize and attack the virus. Subsequently, these key target proteins were orderly assembled onto pre designed protein nanoparticles, leading to the development of a novel vaccine. This strategy can greatly enhance the strength and efficiency of immune recognition, providing new ideas for the rapid development of effective vaccines to curb virus transmission. (New Society)