Chapter 17 - Application of gold nanoparticles in vaccine development

Abstract

The development of new immunization approaches is a critical goal for vaccinology. Long-term immunity with enhanced safety and patient compliance are key aspects to achieve in this field. Nanotechnology offers a myriad of options for the development of such efficient vaccines. Organic and metallic nanoparticles can be used as antigen carriers with immunostimulatory activity, enhancing the robustness of the induced immune response. The current COVID-19 pandemic has evidenced the need for having innovative vaccination approaches to cope with emerging pathogens, and the application of nanotechnology has led to the development of such technologies, for example, RNA vaccines delivered by liposomes and proteins assembled into virus-like particles. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been explored during the last decades as antigen carriers and immunostimulatory entities, with promising findings in several preclinical settings when studied as prototypes of vaccines against viral, bacterial, parasitic, and noncommunicable diseases. In recent years, the increase in the number of in vivo studies dealing with the safety of AuNPs will support further developments in this field; nevertheless, a need for systematic studies on toxicity in pertinent biomodels still exists. Only few clinical trials for AuNP-based vaccines are ongoing; therefore, although the interest on using AuNPs for vaccine design is increasing and promises further innovations in the vaccinology field, the technology is still in its infancy and the following decade will be critical to mature it and expand its adoption in the clinic.