Virus-like particles: Passport to immune recognition

Abstract

Virus-like particles (VLPs) are formed by the self-assembly of envelope and/or capsid proteins from many viruses. In many cases such VLPs have structural characteristics and antigenicity similar to the parental virus, and some have already proven successful as vaccines against the cognate virus infection. The structural components of some VLPs have also proven amenable to the insertion or fusion of foreign antigenic sequences, allowing the production of chimeric VLPs exposing the foreign antigen on their surface. Other VLPs have been used as carriers for foreign antigens, including non-protein antigens, via chemical conjugation. This review outlines some of the advantages, disadvantages, and technical considerations for the use of a wide range of VLP systems in vaccine development.

Synthesis of empty african horse sickness virus particles

“…These are self-assembling, non-replicating, non-pathogenic synthetic particles that mimic the native virus, as well as contain a diverse, repetitive high-density display of viral epitopes in the native conformation. VLP-based vaccines not only elicit humoral immune responses, but are also effective in stimulating CD4 + proliferative and cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses (Grgacic and Anderson, 2006;Kang et al, 2009). These attributes render VLPs safer than the conventional vaccines and superior to recombi-nant single-protein subunit vaccines in eliciting strong, long-lived protective immune responses, even in the absence of adjuvants (Noad and Roy, 2003;Grgaciac and Anderson, 2006).…”

Functional Virus-Like Particles Production Using Silkworm and Their Application in Life Science

“…Recombinant AdV can prime and boost T cell and B cell responses. VLPs have been utilized as vaccines owing to their capability of stimulating strong cellular and humoral responses as direct immunogens [1]. VLPs mimic the structure of native viruses similarly.…”

“…In this case, the endotoxin level of the purified HBc-VLPs is lower than that of VLPs from E.coli. HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) vaccines from S. cerevisiae are commercially available [1]. Production of HBsAgVLPs has been performed using P. pastoris [42,43].…”

“…Silkworm expression systems have been also used to produce Virus-like particles (VLPs) efficiently and the surface of VLPs can be modified by several methods, irrespective of non-enveloped and enveloped VLPs ( Figure 1). VLPs are composed of virus-derived capsid or envelope proteins and have empty shells similar to native viruses [1,2]. VLPs do not have genetic material and are no longer infectious, indicating that VLPs are safer than live attenuated vaccines and inactivated vaccines.…”

New approaches to VLP-based vaccines

“…Interestingly a VLP vaccine designed for hypersensitivity 20 was successful in pre-clinical and phase-I trials and is under further clinical trials. The practical utility of many VLP-based vaccines is being restricted due to their limitation to incorporate large antigens and difficulties in commercial scale production 21 . Therefore, more research needs to be undertaken in terms of developing commercial scale-up methods and choosing suitable protein subunits of the virus to produce effective VLPs, which may elicit robust immunity.…”