Virus-like Particles in Vaccine Development for Infectious Diseases

Abstract

Throughout the last two decades, virus-like particles (VLP), a nano scale multi-protein structure, have been vigorously studied and became a crucial and unique tool for clinical use. Due to VLPs’ structural resemblance of viable virus particles, highly modifiable nature, and lack of viral genome, they are excellent candidates for vaccine development for infectious diseases, offering many advantages over traditional vaccine development methods. Capable of eliciting both potent humoral and cell-mediated immunity, VLPs become one of the best nano-vectors for vaccines for infectious diseases. In addition, VLPs’ flexibility in composition and expression systems also contribute to their versatility as a vaccine platform. Various VLP-based vaccines are commercially available, including Cervarix®, Gardasil®, and Gardasil9® for Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Heptavax-B and Sci-B-Vac™ for Hepatitis B Virus, and COVIFENZ® for SARS-CoV-2. In this review, classification of VLPs, different expression systems, as well their application in vaccine development for several infectious diseases will be discussed.