Vlp-Based Covid-19 Vaccines: An Adaptable Technology Against the Threat of New Variants Publisher



Pratessyed WA^{1, 2} ; Chaves LCS³ ; Crema KP^{1, 2} ; Vuitika L¹ ; Lira A^{1, 2} ; Cortes N^{1, 2} ; Kersten V¹ ; Guimaraes FEG⁴ ; Sadraeian M^{4, 5} ; Barroso Da Silva FL^{6, 7} ; Cabralmarques O^{1, 8, 9} ; Barbuto JAM^{1, 10} ; Russo M¹ ; Camara NOS¹ Show All Authors Show Affiliations
Source: Vaccines Published:2021

Abstract

Virus-like particles (VLPs) are a versatile, safe, and highly immunogenic vaccine platform. Recently, there are developmental vaccines targeting SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic affected humanity worldwide, bringing out incomputable human and financial losses. The race for better, more efficacious vaccines is happening almost simultaneously as the virus increasingly produces variants of concern (VOCs). The VOCs Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta share common mutations mainly in the spike receptor-binding domain (RBD), demonstrat-ing convergent evolution, associated with increased transmissibility and immune evasion. Thus, the identification and understanding of these mutations is crucial for the production of new, op-timized vaccines. The use of a very flexible vaccine platform in COVID-19 vaccine development is an important feature that cannot be ignored. Incorporating the spike protein and its variations into VLP vaccines is a desirable strategy as the morphology and size of VLPs allows for better presentation of several different antigens. Furthermore, VLPs elicit robust humoral and cellular immune responses, which are safe, and have been studied not only against SARS-CoV-2 but against other coronaviruses as well. Here, we describe the recent advances and improvements in vaccine development using VLP technology. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.