Methodological advances in the design of peptide-based vaccines

• Published in: Drug discovery today Vol. 27; no. 5; pp. 1367 - 1380
• Main Authors: Kalita, Parismita, Tripathi, Timir
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2022
• Subjects: Adjuvants; Computational Biology - methods; Epitopes; Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte - genetics; Immune response; Immunogenicity; Immunoinformatics; Peptide vaccine; Peptides; Reverse vaccinology; Subunit; Vaccine design; Vaccines, Subunit; APCs; Immune response; Reverse vaccinology; Adjuvants; MHC; Epitopes; Peptide vaccine; Subunit; CD8/CD4; Immunoinformatics; Vaccine design; Immunogenicity; DCs; HLA; ISCOMs
• ISSN: 1359-6446; 1878-5832
• DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2022.03.004

•Peptide vaccines are economical, safer and more efficient than conventional vaccines.•Genomics, proteomics and immunoinformatics have accelerated peptide vaccine design.•Exploring new adjuvants and delivery systems could create more potent vaccines.•Sophisticated imaging techniques enable real-time visualization of delivery stages. The tremendous advances in genomics, recombinant DNA technology, bioengineering and nanotechnology, in conjunction with the development of high-end computations, have been instrumental in the process of rational design of peptide-based vaccines. The use of peptide vaccines was limited owing to their inherent instability when systemically administered; however, advanced formulation techniques have been developed for their systemic delivery, thereby overcoming their degradation, clearance, cellular uptake and off-target effects. With the rise of sophisticated immunological predictors and experimental techniques, several methodological advances have occurred in this field. This review examines contemporary methods to identify and optimize epitopes, engineer their immunogenic properties and develop their safe and efficient delivery into the host.