A systems framework for vaccine design

Abstract

Numerous challenges have been identified in vaccine development, including variable efficacy as a function of population demographics and a lack of characterization and mechanistic understanding of immune correlates of protection able to guide delivery and dosing. There is tremendous opportunity in recent technological and computational advances to elucidate systems level understanding of pathogen-host interactions and correlates of immunity. A systems biology approach to vaccinology provides a new paradigm for rational vaccine design in a ‘precision medicine’ context.

Figure 1

System-level approach to vaccine development from bench to bedside. The integration of multi-omic measurements (proteomic, transcriptomic, etc.) along with information about host–pathogen interactions will allow for a system-level view of the host reponse to infection (or vaccination). Analysis with network-based approaches (module identification, differential network analysis, etc.) will enable discoveries about the host immune response, including insights into the mechanism of action of vaccines, biomarkers of immune protection, and potentially new vaccine candidates (targets), leading to improved vaccine development and delivery.