Developments in virus-like particle-based vaccines for HIV

Abstract

Virus-like particles (VLPs) hold great promise for the development of effective and affordable vaccines. VLPs, indeed, are suitable for presentation and efficient delivery to antigen-presenting cells of linear as well as conformational antigens. This will ultimately result in a crosspresentation with both MHC class I and II molecules to prime CD4⁺ T-helper and CD8⁺ cytotoxic T cells. This review describes an update on the development and use of VLPs as vaccine approaches for HIV.

Keywords::

• baculovirus expression vector system
• broadly neutralizing antibody
• conformational antigen presentation
• HIV-VLPs
• insect cells stable expression
• vaccines

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The study was supported by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme “Next Generation HIV-1 Immunogens inducing broadly reactive Neutralising antibodies – NGIN” (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 201433. M Tagliamonte and ML Visciano are funded by the NGIN Programme. L Buonaguro, ML Tornesello and FM Buonaguro hold a patent on HIV-VLPs (WO2010043259). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.