# Developing a Screen for New Adjuvants to Enhance RNA Vaccines

> **NIH NIH R21** · PAI LIFE SCIENCES, INC. · 2020 · $290,045

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
RNA vaccines are a growing area of interest in vaccinology. They are flexible in that the purification
process should be similar from one vaccine to the other and that they can be rapidly made in response
to emerging diseases. Use of these nucleic acid constructs as a vaccine platform has numerous
advantages: Purification is relatively streamlined, and RNA constructs can be built in days using DNA
synthesis technologies followed by transcription. This allows for rapid responses to emerging pathogen
threats or pivot changes in manufacturing to adopt to new circulating strains. While these vaccines show
great promise, in some cases they lack full efficacy in human trials and - like protein vaccines - may
require a method of enhancing their ability to induce adaptive immune responses. We propose here
preliminary studies to enable a high-throughput screen (HTS) for new adjuvant molecules for RNA
vaccines.
At the end of the proposed research we intend to have qualified an in vitro screen for new compound
classes that can (1) enhance expression of RNA constructs; and (2) turn on NF-κB in order to enhance
immunogenicity of these constructs while maintaining expression levels. The work will be performed in
two Aims: First, we will Develop a Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)-based reporter RNA screen that
measures translated protein levels (Aim 1). And then we will Develop and qualify an NF-κB-based
reporter screen on top of the protein expression screen from Aim 1 (Aim 2).
Future studies will include deploying these assays in a high throughput setting and screening large
libraries for leads that enhance expression level of RNA constructs and immunogenicity of RNA vaccines
thereby becoming adjuvants for RNA vaccination.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9958523
- **Project number:** 1R21AI151824-01
- **Recipient organization:** PAI LIFE SCIENCES, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** DARRICK Albert CARTER
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $290,045
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-06-12 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9958523

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9958523, Developing a Screen for New Adjuvants to Enhance RNA Vaccines (1R21AI151824-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9958523. Licensed CC0.

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