Phage based vaccine: A novel strategy in prevention and treatment

Sharareh Mohammad Hasani; Elham Ghafouri; Shirin Kouhpayeh; Forouzan Amerizadeh; Ilnaz Rahimmanesh; Zohre Amirkhani; Hossein Khanahmad

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19925

Phage based vaccine: A novel strategy in prevention and treatment

Heliyon. 2023 Sep 15;9(9):e19925. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19925. eCollection 2023 Sep.

Authors

Sharareh Mohammad Hasani¹, Elham Ghafouri¹, Shirin Kouhpayeh², Forouzan Amerizadeh^{3

4}, Ilnaz Rahimmanesh⁵, Zohre Amirkhani¹, Hossein Khanahmad¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
² Erythron Genetics and Pathobiology Laboratory, Department of Immunology, Isfahan, Iran.
³ Department of Neurology, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
⁵ Applied Physiology Research Center, Cardiovascular Research Institute, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.

Abstract

The vaccine was first developed in 1796 by a British physician, Edward Jenner, against the smallpox virus. This invention revolutionized medical science and saved lives around the world. The production of effective vaccines requires dominant immune epitopes to elicit a robust immune response. Thus, applying bacteriophages has attracted the attention of many researchers because of their advantages in vaccine design and development. Bacteriophages are not infectious to humans and are unlikely to bind to cellular receptors and activate signaling pathways. Phages could activate both cellular and humoral immunity, which is another goal of an effective vaccine design. Also, phages act as an effective adjuvant, along with the antigens, and induce a robust immune response. Phage-based vaccines can also be administered orally because of their stability in the gastrointestinal tract, in contrast to common vaccination routes, which are intradermal, subcutaneous, or intramuscular. This review presents the current improvements in phage-based vaccines and their applications as preventive or therapeutic vaccines.

Keywords: Bacteriophage; Phage-based vaccine; Vaccine.

Publication types

Review