ARDUSAT, AN ARDUINO-BASED CUBESAT PROVIDING STUDENTS WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE THEIR OWN SATELLITE EXPERIMENT AND COLLECT REAL-WORLD SPACE DATA

ABSTRACT Short for "Arduino Satellite", ArduSat is an open-source Nanosatellite, based on the CubeSat standard. The extensive Arduino sensor suite on board gives students the opportunity to create their own satellite experiments and collect real-world space data using the Arduino open-source prototyping platform. From March until May 2014, two undergraduate physics students from Hasselt University used the downloadable ArduSat Software Development Kit which allowed them to design the command sequences they used to conduct their experiments

A Novel Subnucleocapsid Nanoplatform for Mucosal Vaccination against Influenza Virus That Targets the Ectodomain of Matrix Protein 2

International audienceIn this study, subnucleocapsid nanorings formed by the recombinant nucleoprotein (N) of the respiratory syncytial virus were evaluated as a platform to anchor heterologous antigens. The ectodomain of the influenza virus A matrix protein 2 (M2e) is highly conserved and elicits protective antibodies when it is linked to an immunogenic carrier, making it a promising target to develop universal influenza vaccines. In this context, one or three M2e copies were genetically linked to the C terminus of N to produce N-M2e and N-3M2e chimeric recombinant nanorings. Mice were immunized intranasally with N-M2e or N-3M2e or with M2e or 3M2e control peptides. N-3M2e-vaccinated mice showed the strongest mucosal and systemic antibody responses. These mice presented a reduced viral load and minor weight loss, and all survived upon challenge with influenza virus A/PR8/34 (H1N1) (PR8). We compared the intranasal route to the subcutaneous route of N-3M2e immunization. Only the intranasal route induced a strong local IgA response and led to the protection of mice upon challenge. Finally, we demonstrated that the induction of anti-M2e antibodies by N-3M2e is not impaired by preexisting anti-N immunity. Overall, these results show that the N nanoring is a potent carrier for mucosal delivery of vaccinal antigens

A novel proteic nano-platform for antigens: application to musocal influenza vaccination.

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