Virology, Nebraska Center for
Document Type
Article
Date of this Version
6-9-2024
Citation
Pandey, K.K.; Sahoo, B.R.; Pattnaik, A.K. Protein Nanoparticles as Vaccine Platforms for Human and Zoonotic Viruses. Viruses 2024, 16, 936. https://doi.org/10.3390/v16060936
Abstract
Vaccines are one of the most effective medical interventions, playing a pivotal role in treating infectious diseases. Although traditional vaccines comprise killed, inactivated, or liveattenuated pathogens that have resulted in protective immune responses, the negative consequences of their administration have been well appreciated. Modern vaccines have evolved to contain purified antigenic subunits, epitopes, or antigen-encoding mRNAs, rendering them relatively safe. However, reduced humoral and cellular responses pose major challenges to these subunit vaccines. Protein nanoparticle (PNP)-based vaccines have garnered substantial interest in recent years for their ability to present a repetitive array of antigens for improving immunogenicity and enhancing protective responses. Discovery and characterisation of naturally occurring PNPs from various living organisms such as bacteria, archaea, viruses, insects, and eukaryotes, as well as computationally designed structures and approaches to link antigens to the PNPs, have paved the way for unprecedented advances in the field of vaccine technology. In this review, we focus on some of the widely used naturally occurring and optimally designed PNPs for their suitability as promising vaccine platforms for displaying native-like antigens from human viral pathogens for protective immune responses. Such platforms hold great promise in combating emerging and re-emerging infectious viral diseases and enhancing vaccine efficacy and safety.
Included in
Biological Phenomena, Cell Phenomena, and Immunity Commons, Cell and Developmental Biology Commons, Genetics and Genomics Commons, Infectious Disease Commons, Medical Immunology Commons, Medical Pathology Commons, Virology Commons
Comments
Open access.