07/06/2026
A vaccine that could provide protection against multiple pathogens would be invaluable, particularly during pandemics in which knowledge of the causative pathogen is limited. Zhang et al. found that a nasal vaccine designed to stimulate innate immune cells and T cells provided protection against both viral and bacterial lung infections in mice. Broad protection was dependent on alveolar macrophages, and their vaccine-induced enhanced functions were lost if T cells were depleted. Because macrophages can inhibit viruses and bacteria through a variety of mechanisms, the vaccine promoting their preparedness conferred broad protective function. The T cells stimulated by the vaccine trained the macrophages to be ready to respond to infection, a process that did not require the T cells to have specificity toward a particular pathogen. —Sarah H. Ross
Traditional vaccines target specific pathogens, limiting their scope against diverse respiratory threats. We describe an intranasal liposomal formulation combining toll-like receptor 4 and 7/8 ligands with a model antigen, ovalbumin, which provided broad,...