Germinal centers are sites within the lymph nodes and the spleen where B cells (shown in blue) divide and turn into antibody producing cells. On day seven after vaccination, the germinal center shows separation of two zones, the dark zone (red) and the light zone (green). B cells undergo rapid cell division in the dark zone. Once they stop dividing, B cells migrate from the dark zone to the light zone and start to express antibody on their cell surface. Image courtesy of Drs. Blander and Barbet
Vaccines containing inactivated versions of disease-causing germs are traditionally not as effective as live vaccines made with weakened pathogens. But new research from Weill Cornell Medicine scientists reveals how a molecule found in live vaccines produces a robust immune response, and adding it to an inactivated vaccine can create the same strong results.
These insights may provide a blueprint for engineering more potent inactivated or “dead” vaccines that can deliver strong immunity while overcoming concerns about the health risks of live vaccines.
“There has been a reluctance in the general population to get vaccinated, but vaccines are the single most effective medical intervention proven to prevent disease,” said senior author Dr. Julie Magarian Blander, a senior faculty member in the Jill Roberts Institute for Research in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Weill Cornell Medicine, who was recruited as a professor of immunology in medicine. “We have known that live vaccines provide better protection, often for life, in one dose, compared to dead vaccines that frequently require multiple doses or boosters over time.” To continue reading...