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Review
. 2017 Feb 14;5(1):6.
doi: 10.3390/vaccines5010006.

Harnessing Nanoparticles for Immunomodulation and Vaccines

Ariane C Gomes  1 , Mona Mohsen  2 , Martin F Bachmann  3   4
Affiliations
Review

Harnessing Nanoparticles for Immunomodulation and Vaccines

Ariane C Gomes et al. Vaccines (Basel). .

Abstract

The first successful use of nanoparticles (NPs) for vaccination was reported almost 40 years ago with a virus-like particle-based vaccine against Hepatitis B. Since then, the term NP has been expanded to accommodate a large number of novel nano-sized particles engineered from a range of materials. The great interest in NPs is likely not only a result of the two successful vaccines against hepatitis B and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) that use this technology, but also due to the versatility of those small-sized particles, as indicated by the wide range of applications reported so far, ranging from medicinal and cosmetics to purely technical applications. In this review, we will focus on the use of NPs, especially virus-like particles (VLPs), in the field of vaccines and will discuss their employment as vaccines, antigen display platforms, adjuvants and drug delivery systems.

Keywords: immunogen; nanoparticles; vaccines; virus-like particles.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Nanoparticles. (A) Liposome: schematic representation of a phospholipidic liposome; (B) VLP derived from HPV virus, PDBID: 1DZL; (C) Viral vector: schematic representation of viral adenovirus.; (D) Self-assembled proteins: X-ray structure of ferritin PDBID: 2X17. Protein Data Bank Identification (PDBID).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Timeline of the licensing of NP-based vaccines for humans. Five vaccines based on NPs are currently licensed for humans. Of note, all NPs are VLPs.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Interaction of NPs and relevant immune cells. APCs such as dendritic cells are the main cells recognizing and driving the immune response against NPs. The unspecific uptake guarantees that those cells will internalize and process most of the pathogens and molecules. The uptake of NPs triggers maturation of DCs and secretion of relevant cytokines that will stimulate other cells, such as T cells, and modulate the immune response. Humoral immune response is favored by the repetitive surface which promotes BCR crosslinking and activation of B cells, leading to activation and production of long-lived antibodies. Cellular and cytotoxic responses are driven by the APCs that internalized the NPs and cross-present the antigens to T cells.
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