Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, Rockville, MD 20850, USA.
Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
Viruses. 2021 May 25;13(6):981. doi: 10.3390/v13060981.
Development of preventive vaccines against hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains one of the main strategies in achieving global elimination of the disease. The effort is focused on the quest for vaccines capable of inducing protective cross-neutralizing humoral and cellular immune responses, which in turn dictate the need for rationally designed cross-genotype vaccine antigens and potent immunoadjuvants systems. This review provides an assessment of the current state of knowledge on immunopotentiating compounds and vaccine delivery systems capable of enhancing HCV antigen-specific immune responses, while focusing on the synergy and interplay of two modalities. Structural, physico-chemical, and biophysical features of these systems are discussed in conjunction with the analysis of their in vivo performance. Extreme genetic diversity of HCV-a well-known hurdle in the development of an HCV vaccine, may also present a challenge in a search for an effective immunoadjuvant, as the effort necessitates systematic and comparative screening of rationally designed antigenic constructs. The progress may be accelerated if the preference is given to well-defined molecular immunoadjuvants with greater formulation flexibility and adaptability, including those capable of spontaneous self-assembly behavior, while maintaining their robust immunopotentiating and delivery capabilities.
开发预防丙型肝炎病毒 (HCV) 的疫苗仍然是实现全球消除该疾病的主要策略之一。目前的研究重点是寻求能够诱导保护性中和体液和细胞免疫应答的疫苗，这反过来又需要合理设计跨基因型疫苗抗原和有效的免疫佐剂系统。本文综述了目前增强 HCV 抗原特异性免疫应答的免疫增强化合物和疫苗传递系统的知识现状，同时重点关注两种方式的协同作用和相互影响。讨论了这些系统的结构、物理化学和生物物理特性，并结合其体内性能进行了分析。HCV 的极端遗传多样性——这是开发 HCV 疫苗的一个已知障碍，也可能给有效的免疫佐剂的寻找带来挑战，因为这需要系统地和比较地筛选合理设计的抗原构建体。如果优先考虑具有更大配方灵活性和适应性的明确分子免疫佐剂，包括那些能够自发自组装的佐剂，同时保持其强大的免疫增强和传递能力，那么进展可能会加快。
