Special Issue "VLP Based Coronavirus Vaccines"

A special issue of Vaccines (ISSN 2076-393X). This special issue belongs to the section "COVID-19 Vaccines and Vaccination".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (21 August 2021).

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Martin Bachmann
E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Immunology, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Interests: virus-like particles; vaccines; infectious diseases; immunology; antibody; allergy; cancer immunotherapy and immunology
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. Mona O. Mohsen
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biomedical Research, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Interests: virus-like particles; vaccines; infectious diseases; immunology; antibody; allergy; cancer immunotherapy and immunology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The COVID-19 pandemic has paralyzed the world, however with the advent of registered vaccines, a silver lining is on the horizon. These novel vaccines are, however, based on novel techniques, which do not yet have the full experience package of classical vaccines. On the other hand, the use of virus-like particles (VLPs) is one such classical vaccine approach. In this Special Issue of Vaccines, we would like to highlight the various efforts made and techniques used in the development of virus-like particle (VLP)-based COVID-19 vaccines. We would like to cover all aspects of vaccine development, from vaccine design to vaccine production, as well as preclinical and clinical efficacy. This Special Issue will highlight the power of the classical VLP-based approach und underline the importance that such avenues are still pursued to back up the vaccines currently undergoing registration. 

Prof. Dr. Martin Bachmann
Dr. Mona Mohsen
Guest Editors

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 papers will be 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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Vaccines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). 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

  • virus-like particles (VLPs)
  • vaccine
  • vaccine design
  • vaccine development
  • vaccine production
  • pre-clinical studies
  • clinical trials

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Article
AP205 VLPs Based on Dimerized Capsid Proteins Accommodate RBM Domain of SARS-CoV-2 and Serve as an Attractive Vaccine Candidate
Vaccines 2021, 9(4), 403; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9040403 - 19 Apr 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 784
Abstract
COVID-19 is a novel disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 which has conquered the world rapidly resulting in a pandemic that massively impacts our health, social activities, and economy. It is likely that vaccination is the only way to form “herd immunity” and restore the [...] Read more.
COVID-19 is a novel disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 which has conquered the world rapidly resulting in a pandemic that massively impacts our health, social activities, and economy. It is likely that vaccination is the only way to form “herd immunity” and restore the world to normal. Here we developed a vaccine candidate for COVID-19 based on the virus-like particle AP205 displaying the spike receptor binding motif (RBM), which is the major target of neutralizing antibodies in convalescent patients. To this end, we genetically fused the RBM domain of SARS-CoV-2 to the C terminus of AP205 of dimerized capsid proteins. The fused VLPs were expressed in E. coli, which resulted in insoluble aggregates. These aggregates were denatured in 8 M urea followed by refolding, which reconstituted VLP formation as confirmed by electron microscopy analysis. Importantly, immunized mice were able to generate high levels of IgG antibodies recognizing eukaryotically expressed receptor binding domain (RBD) as well as spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, induced antibodies were able to neutralize SARS-CoV-2/ABS/NL20. Additionally, this vaccine candidate has the potential to be produced at large scale for immunization programs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue VLP Based Coronavirus Vaccines)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Article
Development of a Vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 Based on the Receptor-Binding Domain Displayed on Virus-Like Particles
Vaccines 2021, 9(4), 395; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9040395 - 16 Apr 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 797
Abstract
The ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by a new coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2)) first reported in Wuhan City, China. From there, it has been rapidly spreading to many cities inside and outside China. Nowadays, more than [...] Read more.
The ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by a new coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2)) first reported in Wuhan City, China. From there, it has been rapidly spreading to many cities inside and outside China. Nowadays, more than 110 million cases with deaths surpassing 2 million have been recorded worldwide, thus representing a major health and economic issues. Rapid development of a protective vaccine against COVID-19 is therefore of paramount importance. Here, we demonstrated that the recombinantly expressed receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein can be coupled to immunologically optimized virus-like particles derived from cucumber mosaic virus (CuMVTT). The RBD displayed CuMVTT bound to ACE2, the viral receptor, demonstrating proper folding of RBD. Furthermore, a highly repetitive display of the RBD on CuMVTT resulted in a vaccine candidate that induced high levels of specific antibodies in mice, which were able to block binding of the spike protein to ACE2 and potently neutralize SARS-CoV-2 virus in vitro. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue VLP Based Coronavirus Vaccines)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop