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Review
. 2021 Jan 5;10(1):36.
doi: 10.3390/pathogens10010036.

Nanoparticles as Vaccines to Prevent Arbovirus Infection: A Long Road Ahead

Gabriel Augusto Pires de Souza  1   2 , Raíssa Prado Rocha  3 , Ricardo Lemes Gonçalves  4 , Cyntia Silva Ferreira  4 , Breno de Mello Silva  4 , Renato Fróes Goulart de Castro  1 , João Francisco Vitório Rodrigues  1 , João Carlos Vilela Vieira Júnior  1 , Luiz Cosme Cotta Malaquias  1 , Jônatas Santos Abrahão  2 , Luiz Felipe Leomil Coelho  1
Affiliations
Review

Nanoparticles as Vaccines to Prevent Arbovirus Infection: A Long Road Ahead

Gabriel Augusto Pires de Souza et al. Pathogens. .

Abstract

Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) are a significant public health problem worldwide. Vaccination is considered one of the most effective ways to control arbovirus diseases in the human population. Nanoparticles have been widely explored as new vaccine platforms. Although nanoparticles' potential to act as new vaccines against infectious diseases has been identified, nanotechnology's impact on developing new vaccines to prevent arboviruses is unclear. Thus, we used a comprehensive bibliographic survey to integrate data concerning the use of diverse nanoparticles as vaccines against medically important arboviruses. Our analysis showed that considerable research had been conducted to develop and evaluate nanovaccines against Chikungunya virus, Dengue virus, Zika virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, and West Nile virus. The main findings indicate that nanoparticles have great potential for use as a new vaccine system against arboviruses. Most of the studies showed an increase in neutralizing antibody production after mouse immunization. Nevertheless, even with significant advances in this field, further efforts are necessary to address the nanoparticles' potential to act as a vaccine against these arboviruses. To promote advances in the field, we proposed a roadmap to help researchers better characterize and evaluate nanovaccines against medically important arboviruses.

Keywords: arbovirus; experimental roadmap; nanoparticles; vaccine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overview of the mechanisms by which nanovaccines can induce an immune response. (A) Nanoparticles can be used as a vaccine platform for several infectious diseases since they can deliver antigens and several immunostimulatory molecules (TLR ligands and adjuvants). The antigen could be encapsulated, adsorbed, and dispersed on the nanoparticle matrix. The immunostimulatory activity of nanovaccines is related to several mechanisms, such as the depot effect, gradual release of vaccine antigens, and recruitment of antigen-presenting cells. (B) Smaller nanoparticles (<25 nm) are transported through the lymphatic system more quickly than larger particles (>100 nm). Smaller nanoparticles could accumulate in dendritic cells (DC) resident in the lymph nodes. These resident DC can process and present the antigen to T cells on the lymph node. In contrast, larger nanoparticles are efficiently uptake by APCs present or recruited on the injection site. These APCs can also process the antigen and migrate to the lymph node to present the T cells’ antigen.Legend: APC: antigen-presenting cell; DC: dendritic cells; TLR: toll-like receptor.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Nanoparticles as vaccines against medically important arboviruses. (A) Types of materials used to develop vaccines based on nanotechnology against DENV, ZIKV, JEV, WNV, and CHIKV. (B) Bipartite network graph showing a spatially connected network among the type of material used to develop nanoparticles and the target virus. Each node represents a virus or the type of nanoparticle material. The layout was generated using a force-based algorithm followed by manual rearrangement for better visualization of the connections. Legend: ABP: Amyloid beta-protein; BSA: bovine serum albumin; CaCl2: Calcium chloride; CapH: Calcium phosphate; Carb: carbon; CHIKV: Chikungunya virus; CHIT: chitosan; CpG: CpG oligodeoxynucleotide; DENV: Dengue virus; HBAg: Hepatitis B antigen; IPEI: polyethyleneimine; JEV: Japanese encephalitis virus; LPP: lipoprotein; LPP: lipoprotein; LPS: lipopolysaccharide; PAA: poly(amido amine), PEG: Polyethylene glycol; PGGA: poly(gamma-glutamic acid); PLGA: poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid); WNV: West Nile virus; ZIKV: Zika virus.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Nanoparticles as vaccines against medically important arboviruses. (A) Types of materials used to develop vaccines based on nanotechnology against DENV, ZIKV, JEV, WNV, and CHIKV. (B) Bipartite network graph showing a spatially connected network among the type of material used to develop nanoparticles and the target virus. Each node represents a virus or the type of nanoparticle material. The layout was generated using a force-based algorithm followed by manual rearrangement for better visualization of the connections. Legend: ABP: Amyloid beta-protein; BSA: bovine serum albumin; CaCl2: Calcium chloride; CapH: Calcium phosphate; Carb: carbon; CHIKV: Chikungunya virus; CHIT: chitosan; CpG: CpG oligodeoxynucleotide; DENV: Dengue virus; HBAg: Hepatitis B antigen; IPEI: polyethyleneimine; JEV: Japanese encephalitis virus; LPP: lipoprotein; LPP: lipoprotein; LPS: lipopolysaccharide; PAA: poly(amido amine), PEG: Polyethylene glycol; PGGA: poly(gamma-glutamic acid); PLGA: poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid); WNV: West Nile virus; ZIKV: Zika virus.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Virus antigens and nanoparticle network. (A) Use of structural and non-structural proteins of medically important arboviruses to develop vaccine-based nanoparticles. (B) Bipartite network graph showing a spatially connected network among the type of material used to develop nanoparticles and the vaccine approaches. Each node represents a type of nanoparticle material or the vaccine approach used. The nodes’ diameter is proportional to the edge degree. The layout was generated using a force-based algorithm followed by manual rearrangement for better visualization of the connections. Legend: ABP: Amyloid beta-protein; BSA: bovine serum albumin; CaCl2: Calcium chloride; CapH: Calcium phosphate; Carb: carbon; CHIKV: Chikungunya virus; CHIT: chitosan; CpG: CpG oligodeoxynucleotide; DENV: Dengue virus; HBAg: Hepatitis B antigen; IPEI: polyethyleneimine; IV: Whole inactivated virus; JEV: Japanese encephalitis virus; LPP: lipoprotein; LPP: lipoprotein; LPS: lipopolysaccharide; PAA: poly(amido amine); PEG: Polyethylene glycol; Pep: Peptide; PGGA: poly(gamma-glutamic acid); PLGA: poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid); RVV: recombinant viral vector; VLP: Virus-like particles; WNV: West Nile virus; ZIKV: Zika virus.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Virus antigens and nanoparticle network. (A) Use of structural and non-structural proteins of medically important arboviruses to develop vaccine-based nanoparticles. (B) Bipartite network graph showing a spatially connected network among the type of material used to develop nanoparticles and the vaccine approaches. Each node represents a type of nanoparticle material or the vaccine approach used. The nodes’ diameter is proportional to the edge degree. The layout was generated using a force-based algorithm followed by manual rearrangement for better visualization of the connections. Legend: ABP: Amyloid beta-protein; BSA: bovine serum albumin; CaCl2: Calcium chloride; CapH: Calcium phosphate; Carb: carbon; CHIKV: Chikungunya virus; CHIT: chitosan; CpG: CpG oligodeoxynucleotide; DENV: Dengue virus; HBAg: Hepatitis B antigen; IPEI: polyethyleneimine; IV: Whole inactivated virus; JEV: Japanese encephalitis virus; LPP: lipoprotein; LPP: lipoprotein; LPS: lipopolysaccharide; PAA: poly(amido amine); PEG: Polyethylene glycol; Pep: Peptide; PGGA: poly(gamma-glutamic acid); PLGA: poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid); RVV: recombinant viral vector; VLP: Virus-like particles; WNV: West Nile virus; ZIKV: Zika virus.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematic representation of the experimental steps comprised in the proposed roadmap. Legend: DCs: Dendritic cells; PDI: polydispersity index.
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