Virus-Like Particles: Applications in Reverse Vaccinology

Abstract

Vaccination has been one of the most successful and the most significant scientific advances in human health and life expectancy all around the globe. The World Health Organization considers that immunization should be recognized as the main component of human health right, due to the fact that vaccination prevents 2.5 million deaths annually (World Health Organization, 2011). The most successful vaccines have been developed using conventional methods that follow the paradigm established by Pasteur: "to isolate, inactivate and inject" the pathogen microorganism and mimic a natural infection. Recently, metagenomics have played an important role in the discovery of new immunogens for vaccine design and the selection of antigens based on genomic information. The main approach that has used this strategy has been called "reverse vaccinology". This promising and arising field allows the screening of the entire potential antigenic repertoire of an organism using predictive bioinformatic tools. Once the antigenic protein or proteins have been selected, they are expressed and purified using molecular cloning and in vitro expression techniques. Following the in vitro production step, they are probed in animal models to evaluate the in vivo protective strength of the immune response. The main aim of this in vivo approach is to evaluate the ability of the immune response to eliminate or neutralize the pathogen at the time of infection. Those antigens capable of generate a specific immune response with neutralizing activity for natural infections are the best candidate vaccines. In this review we summarize the evolution of vaccinology since its inception, with special emphasis on the development of VLPs as vaccine platforms and their future in preventive medicine and we introduce a new recombinant platform for antigen presentation based on Junin virus VLPs (JUNV-VLPs).

Virus-like Particles‑Application in Nano Vaccines: A Review

“…15 The in silico predicted target proteins are expressed recombinantly as surface antigens, or as secreted in monomeric or oligomeric forms, then purified in vitro, and finally evaluate its immunogenicity through its in vivo injection to assess the capability to reach protective immune response level. 1 VLP based vaccines have the strongest evidence-based safe for use in humans, which made them the first nanoparticles class vaccines to reach the market. The first commercialized VLP was in 1986 for Hepatitis B virus (HBV).…”

“…They also induce humoral immunity in T-cell independently. 1 Some VLPs do not need adjuvants since their small size is considered as an inherent self-adjuvant criterion. Upon VLP uptake by the denderitic cell (DC), they will be processed and presented by the MHC-II activating CD-4 T-cell.…”

“…According to the World Health Organization (WHO), vaccination is recognized as a substantial concept of human health rights, that it saves 2.5 million deaths annually. 1 The concept of vaccination was first started in the late 18th century and continued to develop until the 21st, where molecular biology and genetic engineering paved the way to establish a new strategy in vaccine designation. Genomebased immunogen identification technologies have played a potential role in vaccine formulation through the screening of the whole potential antigens repertoire of the pathogen.…”