Tetravalent dengue mRNA vaccination orchestrates balanced four-serotype immunity with durable memory and protection in mice.

An effective dengue vaccine must establish durable immunity across four dengue virus (DENV) serotypes, evade antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), and overcome immune imprinting from prior exposure. Here, we developed TetprM-E mRNA-LNP, a tetravalent vaccine comprising LNP-formulated nucleoside-modified mRNAs encoding DENV1-4 precursor membrane-envelope (prM-E) antigens, and evaluated its immunogenicity, durability, protection and breath across serotype-specific immune backgrounds. Three immunization strategies elicited neutralizing titers greater than 1:1500 against each serotype. Passive transfer of immune sera conferred 100% survival and reduced viremia after lethal DENV2 challenge in immunocompromised mice. Vaccination induced DENV envelope (env)-specific CD8+T cells and CD4-dependent germinal-center responses. DENV env-binding antibodies persisted for 34 weeks alongside DENV env-specific memory B cells. Vaccine-elicited sera showed no measurable in vitro ADE. Although monovalent priming initially biased antibody responses, TetprM-E mRNA-LNP vaccination broadened neutralization across DENV1-4 regardless of priming serotype. Together, TetprM-E mRNA-LNP elicits broad, durable, and protective immunity despite serologic constraints from pre-existing immunity.

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Publication Details

Journal
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Published
2026-11-11
DOI
https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.11.09.765416
Primary Topic
Mosquito-borne diseases and control
Type
preprint
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preprint

Tetravalent dengue mRNA vaccination orchestrates balanced four-serotype immunity with durable memory and protection in mice.

Fahima Akther, Yago R. Dalben, Longping V. Tse, David R. Martinez et al.
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Mosquito-borne diseases and control
preprint

Tetravalent dengue mRNA vaccination orchestrates balanced four-serotype immunity with durable memory and protection in mice.

Fahima Akther, Yago R. Dalben, Longping V. Tse, David R. Martinez, John Villalpando, E. De Buck, Kate S Levine, Sachchidanand Tiwari, Norbert Pardi, Daniela Weiskopf, Ryan P. McNamara, Hiromi Muramatsu, Craig B. Wilen, Zixi Yin, Nikhil S. Joshi, J. Polster, Sowmya Sriram
preprint en

Abstract

An effective dengue vaccine must establish durable immunity across four dengue virus (DENV) serotypes, evade antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), and overcome immune imprinting from prior exposure. Here, we developed TetprM-E mRNA-LNP, a tetravalent vaccine comprising LNP-formulated nucleoside-modified mRNAs encoding DENV1-4 precursor membrane-envelope (prM-E) antigens, and evaluated its immunogenicity, durability, protection and breath across serotype-specific immune backgrounds. Three immunization strategies elicited neutralizing titers greater than 1:1500 against each serotype. Passive transfer of immune sera conferred 100% survival and reduced viremia after lethal DENV2 challenge in immunocompromised mice. Vaccination induced DENV envelope (env)-specific CD8+T cells and CD4-dependent germinal-center responses. DENV env-binding antibodies persisted for 34 weeks alongside DENV env-specific memory B cells. Vaccine-elicited sera showed no measurable in vitro ADE. Although monovalent priming initially biased antibody responses, TetprM-E mRNA-LNP vaccination broadened neutralization across DENV1-4 regardless of priming serotype. Together, TetprM-E mRNA-LNP elicits broad, durable, and protective immunity despite serologic constraints from pre-existing immunity.

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
La Jolla Institute for Immunology (US), Harvard University (US), Yale University (US), Saint Louis University (US), University of Pennsylvania (US)
Mosquito-borne diseases and control
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