Abstract
Virus-like particles (VLPs) have been shown to be strong activators of dendritic cells (DCs). DCs are the most potent antigen presenting cells (APCs) and their activation prompts the priming of immunity mediators based on B and T cells. The first step for the activation of DCs is the binding of VLPs to pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) on the surface of DCs, followed by VLP internalization. Like wild-type viruses, VLPs use specific PRRs from the DC; however, these recognition interactions between VLPs and PRRs from DCs have not been thoroughly reviewed. In this review, we focused on the interaction between proteins that form VLPs and PRRs from DCs. Several proteins that form VLP contain glycosylations that allow the direct interaction with PRRs sensing carbohydrates, prompting DC maturation and leading to the development of strong adaptive immune responses. We also discussed how the knowledge of the molecular interaction between VLPs and PRRs from DCs can lead to the smart design of VLPs, whether based on the fusion of foreign epitopes or their chemical conjugation, as well as other modifications that have been shown to induce a stronger adaptive immune response and protection against infectious pathogens of importance in human and veterinary medicine. Finally, we address the use of VLPs as tools against cancer and allergic diseases.
Highlights
Virus-like particles (VLPs) have attracted the attention of many researchers, most significantly virologists and immunologists
VLPs can be internalized by other mechanisms such as macropinocytosis and phagocytosis, in this work we focus on analyzing the main proteins used to produce VLPs targeting dendritic cell (DC) through their pattern recognition receptor (PRR), favoring the receptor-dependent endocytosis mechanism
The smart design of VLPs must be based on the molecular mechanism of infection of the pathogen, the target PRRs to which VLPs will attach for their internalization, and the type of immune response desired
Summary
Virus-like particles (VLPs) have attracted the attention of many researchers, most significantly virologists and immunologists. VLPs can directly interact with antigen presenting cells (APCs). Since VLPs contain multimeric epitopes on their surface, they can promote crosslinking of B cell receptors (BCRs). Simple cross-linking of BCRs by VLPs can be strong enough for priming B cells and induce the production of antibodies even without the help of CD4+ T cells. B cells can work as APCs, taking up VLPs, processing and presenting them to T cells [2, 4, 12, 16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24]. VLP-based vaccines are capable of inducing both humoral and cellular immune responses, and due to their multimeric nature, adjuvant co-administration is not needed in most cases, but the use of adjuvant improves their immunogenicity
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