Enveloped virus-like particles as vaccines against pathogenic arboviruses

Arthropod-borne arboviruses form a continuous threat to human and animal health, but few arboviral vaccines are currently available. Advances in expression technology for complex, enveloped virus-like particles (eVLPs) create new opportunities to develop potent vaccines against pathogenic arboviruses. In this short review, I highlight the successes and challenges in eVLP production for members of the three major arbovirus families: Flaviviridae (e.g., dengue, West Nile, Japanese encephalitis); Bunyaviridae (e.g., Rift Valley fever); and Togaviridae (e.g., chikungunya). The results from pre-clinical testing will be discussed as well as specific constraints to the large-scale manufacture and purification of eVLPs, which are complex assemblies of membranes and viral glycoproteins. Insect cells emerge as ideal substrates for correct arboviral glycoprotein folding and posttranslational modification to yield high quality eVLPs. Furthermore, baculovirus expression in insect cell culture is scalable and has a proven safety record in industrial human and veterinary vaccine manufacturing. In conclusion, eVLPs produced in insect cells using modern biotechnology have a realistic potential to be used in novel vaccines against arboviral diseases.