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New Routes and Opportunities for Modular Construction of Particulate Vaccines: Stick, Click, and Glue
1Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Frontiers in Immunology
|July 13, 2018
Summary
New conjugation methods like "stick," "click," and "glue" offer advanced ways to create chimeric virus-like particle (VLP) vaccines. These techniques improve the development of potent vaccines against complex antigens for human and veterinary use.
Area of Science:
- Vaccinology
- Structural biology
- Bioconjugation chemistry
Background:
- Virus-like particles (VLPs) are effective vaccine platforms, with some non-chimeric VLPs already licensed.
- Chimeric VLPs, decorated with different antigens, hold promise but face development challenges.
- Traditional methods like genetic fusion and chemical conjugation struggle with complex antigens.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review challenges in creating chimeric VLP vaccines using classic methods.
- To explore recent advances in conjugation strategies for VLP and nanoparticle-based vaccines.
- To highlight the potential of modular particle decoration for rapid vaccine development.
Main Methods:
- Review of established VLP conjugation techniques (genetic fusion, chemical conjugation).
- Analysis of novel conjugation approaches: non-covalent assembly (stick), unnatural amino acids (click), and SpyTag/SpyCatcher (glue).
- Evaluation of practical considerations for plug-and-display decoration.
Main Results:
- Classic chimeric VLP approaches are limited, especially for complex antigens with post-translational modifications.
- New methods offer robust and versatile strategies for antigen conjugation to VLPs and nanoparticles.
- SpyTag/SpyCatcher technology shows promise for efficient and specific VLP decoration.
Conclusions:
- Advanced conjugation methods overcome limitations of traditional approaches for chimeric VLP vaccine development.
- Modular particle decoration accelerates the generation of vaccines for emerging infectious diseases.
- These strategies have significant potential for both human and veterinary vaccine applications.
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