Engineering Antiviral Vaccines

Abstract

Despite the vital role of vaccines in fighting viral pathogens, effective vaccines are still unavailable for many infectious diseases. The importance of vaccines cannot be overstated during the outbreak of a pandemic, such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The understanding of genomics, structural biology, and innate/adaptive immunity have expanded the toolkits available for current vaccine development. However, sudden outbreaks and the requirement of population-level immunization still pose great challenges in today’s vaccine designs. Well-established vaccine development protocols from previous experiences are in place to guide the pipelines of vaccine development for emerging viral diseases. Nevertheless, vaccine development may follow different paradigms during a pandemic. For example, multiple vaccine candidates must be pushed into clinical trials simultaneously, and manufacturing capability must be scaled up in early stages. Factors from essential features of safety, efficacy, manufacturing, and distributions to administration approaches are taken into consideration based on advances in materials science and engineering technologies. In this review, we present recent advances in vaccine development by focusing on vaccine discovery, formulation, and delivery devices enabled by alternative administration approaches. We hope to shed light on developing better solutions for faster and better vaccine development strategies through the use of biomaterials, biomolecular engineering, nanotechnology, and microfabrication techniques.

Nanocarrier vaccines for SARS-CoV-2

“…In addition to the unique physicochemical characteristics, nanoparticles allow flexibility of surface engineering by incorporating cell-targeting peptides, proteins or polymers on their surface ( Fig. 4 ) [ 282 , 283 ]. Delivery of the antigen to the lymphatic system is the frontmost requirement for vaccine efficacy.…”

State-of-the-Art of Nanodiagnostics and Nanotherapeutics against SARS-CoV-2

“… 154 Generally, the intramuscular administration route is preferred in vaccination; however, it would be more efficient to design vaccine delivery systems for targeting mucosal tissues or to be administered subcutaneously. 155 , 156 Furthermore, encapsulation of antigens inside NPs provides sustained-release properties that prevent adverse reactions in patients and ensure prolonged antigen presentation. 24 Cationic NPs could be used for entrapment or encapsulation of anionic DNA or RNA vaccines.…”

“…Despite other approaches, these vaccines do not require a culture of viruses or production of recombinant peptide/protein antigens. 155 It is reported that identical to protein subunit vaccines or inactivated ones, nucleic acid vaccines might need more than one immunization process to get the adequate protective efficacy. 222 RNAs encoding viral antigens have been considered in designing efficient vaccines.…”

Design and application of nanoparticles as vaccine adjuvants against human corona virus infection

“…The mechanism of action of an antiviral vaccine is shown in Fig. 2 [ 20 ]. Adjuvants are pharmacological or immunological agents used to activate the innate immune system, enabling the innate immune system to respond rapidly to infections and stimulating adaptive immune responses that are specific to viral infections.…”