The key role of genomics in modern vaccine and drug design for emerging infectious diseases

Abstract

It can be argued that the arrival of the "genomics era" has significantly shifted the paradigm of vaccine and therapeutics development from microbiological to sequence-based approaches. Genome sequences provide a previously unattainable route to investigate the mechanisms that underpin pathogenesis. Genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, structural genomics, proteomics, and immunomics are being exploited to perfect the identification of targets, to design new vaccines and drugs, and to predict their effects in patients. Furthermore, human genomics and related studies are providing insights into aspects of host biology that are important in infectious disease. This ever-growing body of genomic data and new genome-based approaches will play a critical role in the future to enable timely development of vaccines and therapeutics to control emerging infectious diseases.

Figure 1. Genomics-based approaches used in the control of EIDs from the outbreak of a disease to the development of a vaccine or drug.

(A) The causative agent of a disease may first be identified from patient samples by using metagenomics. (B) Vaccine and therapeutic targets can be identified from the pathogen genome using a variety of screening approaches that focus on the genome, transcriptome, proteome, immunome or structural genome. (C) The human genome can be screened to avoid homologies or similarities with pathogen vaccine and therapeutic targets, or to identify new targets. (D) Once candidate vaccine and therapeutic targets have been identified they must be shown to provide protection against disease and to be safe for use in patients. (E) The clinically tested vaccine or therapeutic can then be licensed for use. The clinical responses of a vaccine and/or therapeutic can be analyzed using human genome based studies (dotted arrows). The pathogen genome can also be used to analyze mutants that are able to evade the immune system in vaccinated subjects or organisms that develop antibiotic resistance. Examples of the approaches indicated are given in Table 1.