Self‐Assembled Nanoparticles: Exciting Platforms for Vaccination

Abstract

Vaccination is successfully advanced to control several fatal diseases and improve human life expectancy. However, additional innovations are required in this field because there are no effective vaccines to prevent some infectious diseases. The shift from the attenuated or inactivated pathogens to safer but less immunogenic protein or peptide antigens has led to a search for effective antigen delivery carriers that can function as both antigen vehicles and intrinsic adjuvants. Among these carriers, self-assembled nanoparticles (SANPs) have shown great potential to be the best representative. For the nanoscale and multiple presentation of antigens, with accurate control over size, geometry, and functionality, these nanoparticles are assembled spontaneously and mimic pathogens, resulting in enhanced antigen presentation and increased cellular and humoral immunity responses. In addition, they may be applied through needle-free routes due to their adhesive ability, which gives them a great future in vaccination applications. This review provides an overview of various SANPs and their applications in prophylactic vaccines.

SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines Based on the Spike Glycoprotein and Implications of New Viral Variants

“…Other research groups have proposed the rational design of vaccines using stabilized spike proteins with improved immunogenicity and antigenicity (86). Some research groups have proposed the use of ferritin protein as a platform to develop vaccines (87). Ferritin is a protein that plays a key role in iron storage.…”

“…Some research groups have proposed the use of ferritin protein as a platform to develop vaccines ( 87 ). Ferritin is a protein that plays a key role in iron storage.…”

“…Ferritin forms almost spherical nanoparticles (around 12 nm) by the self-assembly of 24 subunits ( 88 ). Among the important vaccine characteristics of ferritin protein are: robust immune response stimulation, thermal stability and adjuvant effect ( 87 , 88 ). At Stanford University, two SARS-CoV-2 vaccine models have been developed based on H. pylori ferritin protein nanoparticles: (i) S glycoprotein full-length ectodomain (S-Fer, residues 1-1213) and (ii) S glycoprotein C-terminal 70 amino-acid deletion (SΔC-Fer, residues 1-1143), the two models fuse in their C-terminal to the ferritin protein but separated by a SGG linker.…”

Mannose-binding lectin and complement mediate follicular localization and enhanced immunogenicity of diverse protein nanoparticle immunogens

“…The use of nanoparticles displaying many copies of an antigen on their surface has been a very successful strategy for enhancing humoral responses to vaccine candidates. Nanoparticle immunogens exhibit a number of features promoting protective immunity, including multivalent antigen display, efficient lymphatic trafficking, and the potential for improved antigen stability compared with monomeric antigen formulations (Irvine and Read, 2020;Pan and Cui, 2020;Singh, 2021;Stephens and Varga, 2020;Wibowo et al, 2020). Licensed vaccines against human papillomavirus (Naud et al, 2014) and hepatitis B virus (Jackson et al, 2007) have established that nanoparticle vaccines can be safe and highly effective, and an increasing number of clinical trials are evaluating nanoparticle vaccines in which a heterologous antigen is presented on a nanoparticle scaffold, including SARS-CoV-2 (Fries et al, 2019;Keech et al, 2020;Langley et al, 2020;Madhi et al, 2021).…”

Nanocarriers-Assisted Needle-Free Vaccine Delivery Through Oral and Intranasal Transmucosal Routes: A Novel Therapeutic Conduit

“…Great potential is shown by the self-assembled nanoparticles in delivering the antigens effectively by functioning as antigen vehicles as intrinsic adjuvants. They can also enhance the antigen presentation, thereby increasing the humoral and cellular immune responses ( Pan and Cui, 2020 ). Conventional vaccines are easily degraded and sometimes get cleared from the site before the desired action.…”