Live vaccine development through targeted protein degradation

Subjects

Vaccination is one of the most effective ways to protect populations from viral infections. A popular method for vaccine development involves attenuating viruses to weaken their ability to cause disease for use as live vaccines. Live attenuated vaccines work well as they preserve all viral antigens in their native conformations, elicit strong mucosal, humoral and cellular immune responses, and can be administered without needles. However, finding the balance between safety and immunogenicity remains a major ongoing challenge for live attenuated vaccine development: over-attenuation may reduce immunogenicity, whereas insufficient attenuation can compromise safety. To work towards addressing this challenge, we developed a proteolysis-targeting (PROTAR) live attenuated vaccine strategy using influenza virus as a model system. This strategy attenuates virulent viruses into safe live vaccines while increasing viral antigen presentation for enhanced immune responses.

“This strategy attenuates virulent viruses into safe live vaccines while increasing viral antigen presentation for enhanced immune responses”

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution