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Advances in Vaccine Immunology

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Immunology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 3523

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Michael Eller

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Vaccine Research Program, Division of AIDS (DAIDS), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
Interests: hiv-1; t cells; NK cells; MAIT cells; vaccines; immunology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Vaccines aim to direct the immune system to protect against pathogens; however, we do not fully understand the mechanisms behind an effective response. Traditional assessment of vaccine-induced immunity has focused on measuring antibody titers, neutralization, or cellular function. These indices fail to capture the full complexity of the immune response. New platforms such as mRNA technologies, nanoparticle delivery systems, and novel adjuvants offer opportunities to modulate immune pathways at a level of precision previously not attainable. At the same time, advances in immunologic profiling, including single-cell sequencing, receptor repertoire analysis, and systems serology, allow for a detailed characterization of vaccine responses at a higher resolution.

This Special Issue will highlight recent advances in targeting vaccines to engage specific immune compartments and new immunologic technologies to understand these responses. We invite original research, reviews, and perspectives that explore strategies for engaging specific components of innate and adaptive immunity, as well as methods for quantifying, modeling, or predicting vaccine efficacy. We encourage studies that apply artificial intelligence and machine learning to integrate multi-omics data. Relevant topics include antigen design and structure, epitope mapping, B- and T-cell dynamics, immune memory, adjuvant function, and integrative systems biology approaches. Studies in human cohorts and preclinical models are welcome. Contributions should advance our understanding of how vaccines shape the immune system and how we can more accurately define correlates of protection.

Dr. Michael Eller
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • vaccine-induced immunity
  • systems vaccinology
  • single-cell immune profiling
  • multiomics
  • correlates of Protection
  • innate immunity
  • adjuvants
  • artificial Intelligence
  • immunomodulation
  • tissue-specific immune activation

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 3028 KB  
Article
Evaluating the Immunological Impact of Hepatitis B Vaccination in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease
by Irene Soleto, Alicia C. Marin, Montse Baldan-Martin, David Bernardo, María Chaparro and Javier P. Gisbert
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2026, 27(1), 531; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27010531 - 5 Jan 2026
Viewed by 1079
Abstract
Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) frequently fail to achieve protective immunity after hepatitis B vaccination, even with intensified vaccination schedules. In this observational real-world study, 18 patients with IBD who were seronegative for hepatitis B virus (HBV) received three standard doses of [...] Read more.
Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) frequently fail to achieve protective immunity after hepatitis B vaccination, even with intensified vaccination schedules. In this observational real-world study, 18 patients with IBD who were seronegative for hepatitis B virus (HBV) received three standard doses of the Engerix-B® vaccine (at 0, 1, and 6 months). After immunisation, patients were classified into responders and non-responders according to their serological response. Blood samples were collected before the first dose and after completion of the vaccination schedule. Responders activated pathways that supported durable protection, including conventional dendritic cells type 1 mobilisation, expansion of IgG plasmablasts, and preservation of B- and T-cell memory. In contrast, non-responders displayed a more inflammatory innate profile, characterised by enrichment of CCR2+ monocytes. They also showed higher baseline Treg frequencies, which may suppress effective effector responses, together with impaired natural killer (NK) activation and progressive loss of memory potential. This study shows that hepatitis B vaccine failure in inflammatory bowel disease reflects a convergence of excessive immune regulation, inflammatory activation, and loss of memory potential, underscoring that no single pathway can explain the impaired response. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Vaccine Immunology)
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20 pages, 3706 KB  
Article
A Highly Immunogenic and Cross-Reactive Multi-Epitope Vaccine Candidate Against Duck Hepatitis A Virus: Immunoinformatics Design and Preliminary Experimental Validation
by Yuanhe Yang, Xiaodong Chen, Anguo Liu, Jinxin He, Yunhe Cao and Pingli He
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(22), 10958; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms262210958 - 12 Nov 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1264
Abstract
Duck viral hepatitis (DVH), a highly contagious disease, is caused primarily by duck hepatitis A virus (DHAV). The viral genotypes exhibit significant diversity, creating a challenge as monovalent vaccines fail to provide cross-genotype protection in ducklings. This study aimed to design a multi-epitope [...] Read more.
Duck viral hepatitis (DVH), a highly contagious disease, is caused primarily by duck hepatitis A virus (DHAV). The viral genotypes exhibit significant diversity, creating a challenge as monovalent vaccines fail to provide cross-genotype protection in ducklings. This study aimed to design a multi-epitope peptide vaccine targeting different genotypes of DHAV. Using immunoinformatics approaches, we systematically identified key antigenic determinants, including linear B-cell epitopes, cytotoxic T-cell epitopes (CTL), and helper T-cell epitopes (HTL). Based on these, a novel vaccine candidate was developed. The vaccine construct was subjected to rigorous computational validation: (1) Molecular docking with Toll-like receptors (TLRs) predicted immune interaction potential. (2) Molecular dynamics simulations assessed complex stability. (3) In silico cloning ensured prokaryotic expression feasibility. Then, we conducted preliminary experimental validation for the actual effect of the vaccine candidate, including recombinant protein expression in E. coli, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) quantification of humoral responses, and Western blot analysis of cross-reactivity. ELISA results demonstrated that the vaccine candidate could induce high-titer antibodies in immunized animals, with potency reaching up to 1:128,000, and the immune serum showed strong reactivity with recombinant VP proteins. Western blot analysis using duck sera confirmed epitope conservancy across genotypes. Collectively, the multi-epitope vaccine candidate developed in this study represents a highly promising broad-spectrum strategy against DHAV. The robust humoral immunity it elicits, coupled with its demonstrated cross-reactivity, constitutes compelling proof-of-concept, laying a solid foundation for advancing to subsequent challenge trials and translational applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Vaccine Immunology)
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Review

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23 pages, 529 KB  
Review
Trained Immunity Induced by Vaccines: A Shifting Paradigm for Infant and Adult Immunity
by Shana Singh-Anderson, Gio Aguilar, Lina Zhang, Kuang-Chih Hsiao and Gergely Toldi
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2026, 27(9), 4133; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27094133 - 5 May 2026
Viewed by 754
Abstract
In addition to inducing pathogen-specific adaptive immune responses, vaccines can train the innate immune system, thereby providing broader host protection. This concept of trained immunity (TRIM) is well-established in benchtop laboratory science. This review aims to evaluate the current evidence of vaccine-induced TRIM [...] Read more.
In addition to inducing pathogen-specific adaptive immune responses, vaccines can train the innate immune system, thereby providing broader host protection. This concept of trained immunity (TRIM) is well-established in benchtop laboratory science. This review aims to evaluate the current evidence of vaccine-induced TRIM and translate these findings into a clinical context. Various laboratory methods are used to assess TRIM; however, inconsistent results have been reported across non-BCG vaccine studies. Existing analyses lack exploration of the mechanistic basis of vaccine-induced TRIM, particularly epigenetic reprogramming and metabolic rewiring. Patterns emerge between vaccines: live-attenuated vaccines generally induce TRIM, as evidenced by increased inflammatory cytokine production upon restimulation, whereas non-live vaccines tend to demonstrate reduced trained immunity. Such findings are not consistently observed for mRNA vaccines, which show heterogeneous patterns. The limited variety of studies on non-BCG vaccines impacts the reliability of findings. A more comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms and outputs of TRIM induced by specific vaccines could better inform rational vaccine design. Furthermore, various modifiers can alter vaccine-induced TRIM responses, including sequence and route of administration, sex, and age. Consideration of these modifiers has important clinical implications in optimising vaccine administration for enhanced immune protection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Vaccine Immunology)
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