Recent Progress on the Versatility of Virus-Like Particles

Abstract

Virus-like particles (VLPs) are multimeric nanostructures composed of one or more structural proteins of a virus in the absence of genetic material. Having similar morphology to natural viruses but lacking any pathogenicity or infectivity, VLPs have gradually become a safe substitute for inactivated or attenuated vaccines. VLPs can achieve tissue-specific targeting and complete and effective cell penetration. With highly ordered epitope repeats, VLPs have excellent immunogenicity and can induce strong cellular and humoral immune responses. In addition, as a type of nanocarrier, VLPs can be used to display antigenic epitopes or deliver small molecules. VLPs have thus become powerful tools for vaccinology and biomedical research. This review highlights the versatility of VLPs in antigen presentation, drug delivery, and vaccine technology.

Keywords: nanocarrier; recombinant vaccine; virus-like particles.

Figure 1

An overview of virus-like particles (VLPs) used as efficient nanocarriers for antigen presentation, cargo delivery, and as a vaccine platform.

Figure 2

Non-enveloped and enveloped VLPs as a platform for antigen presentation and cargo delivery. The internal cavity of the VLPs accommodates exogenous oligonucleotides (rendered as brown gene-like patches), drug molecules (red circle), and small proteins (green pentagram) that can be delivered after the VLPs get the target organs or cells. The outer surface of the VLPs displays foreign proteins that are fused (red triangle) or covalently conjugated (yellow-green circle) to the particles.