Association Pathways in Apoferritin-Based Nanovaccines: Structural Effects of pH-Driven and Direct Assembly

Camila Machado França de Almeida – PhD student, pharmaceutical sciences, school of pharmeceutical sciences of ribeirao preto at university of sao paulo; Natalia Floriano Paiva – PhD student, pharmaceutical sciences, school of pharmeceutical sciences of ribeirao preto at university of sao paulo; Fabiana Testa Moura de Carvalho Vicentini – professor, pharmaceutical sciences, school of pharmeceutical sciences of ribeirao preto at university of sao paulo

Introduction:

Apoferritin (ApFt) is a self-assembling globular protein widely investigated as a versatile biotechnological platform for immunotherapeutic delivery (1). This study evaluates the conformational and intermolecular effects arising from distinct assembly protocols for peptide-based (PPT) (2) and plasmid DNA (pDNA) nanovaccines (3). The goal is to elucidate the structural dynamics of ApFt association with these biomolecules to optimize the development of protein-based nanocarriers.