Vaccine Immunology

A special issue of Vaccines (ISSN 2076-393X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 14175

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Extraordinary advances in vaccine technology have led to a detailed understanding of tumor antigens, antigen presentation, innate immunity, cytokine and chemokine pathways, and immunoregulation. As the Guest Editor, I am glad to announce the Special Issue "Vaccine Immunology ". The goal of advancement in vaccine science and technology is to generate a strong immune response to the administered antigens. To achieve this objective with vaccines based on insufficiently immunogenic antigens, adjuvant and other formulation materials are alternatives. This Special Issue covers recent advances in the design of efficient vaccines against emergent infectious pathogens and cancers.

In this Special Issue, we will collect articles from researchers describing new approaches in the field of vaccines against infectious diseases and cancers. Authors are welcome to submit original articles, systematic reviews, short communications, and other article types on related topics. We welcome the submission of manuscripts from outstanding scholars. 

Prof. Dr. Vasso Apostolopoulos
Guest Editor

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 submissions that pass pre-check are 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 2700 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.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 2083 KiB  
Article
Oral Vaccination Using a Probiotic Vaccine Platform Combined with Prebiotics Impacts Immune Response and the Microbiome
by Bridget E. Fox, Allison C. Vilander, Darby Gilfillan, Gregg A. Dean and Zaid Abdo
Vaccines 2022, 10(9), 1465; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10091465 - 04 Sep 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1940
Abstract
Unique to mucosal vaccination is the reciprocal influence of the microbiome and mucosal immune responses, where the immune system is constantly balancing between the clearance of pathogens and the tolerance of self-antigen, food, and the microbiota. Secretory IgA plays a major role in [...] Read more.
Unique to mucosal vaccination is the reciprocal influence of the microbiome and mucosal immune responses, where the immune system is constantly balancing between the clearance of pathogens and the tolerance of self-antigen, food, and the microbiota. Secretory IgA plays a major role in maintaining the homeostasis of a healthy gut microbiome. Natural polyreactive IgA often coats members of the commensal microbiota to aid in their colonization, while high-affinity specific IgA binds to pathogens resulting in their clearance. We developed a probiotic-based mucosal vaccination platform using the bacterium Lactobacillus acidophilus (rLA) with the potential to influence this balance in the IgA coating. In this study, we sought to determine whether repeated administration of rLA alters the host intestinal microbial community due to the immune response against the rLA vaccine. To address this, IgA-seq was employed to characterize shifts in IgA-bound bacterial populations. Additionally, we determined whether using rice bran as a prebiotic would influence the immunogenicity of the vaccine and/or IgA-bound bacterial populations. Our results show that the prebiotic influenced the kinetics of rLA antibody induction and that the rLA platform did not cause lasting disturbances to the microbiome. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vaccine Immunology)
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16 pages, 2340 KiB  
Article
A Novel Efficient Piscine Oral Nano-Vaccine Delivery System: Modified Halloysite Nanotubes (HNTs) Preventing Streptococcosis Disease in Tilapia (Oreochromis sp.)
by Ansaya Pumchan, Udom Sae-Ueng, Chaiya Prasittichai, Soranuth Sirisuay, Nontawith Areechon and Sasimanas Unajak
Vaccines 2022, 10(8), 1180; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10081180 - 25 Jul 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2766
Abstract
Generally, the injection method is recommended as the best efficient method for vaccine applications in fish. However, labor-intensive and difficult injection for certain fish sizes is always considered as a limitation to aquatic animals. To demonstrate the effectiveness of a novel oral delivery [...] Read more.
Generally, the injection method is recommended as the best efficient method for vaccine applications in fish. However, labor-intensive and difficult injection for certain fish sizes is always considered as a limitation to aquatic animals. To demonstrate the effectiveness of a novel oral delivery system for the piscine vaccine with nano-delivery made from nano clay, halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) and their modified forms were loaded with killed vaccines, and we determined the ability of the system in releasing vaccines in a mimic digestive system. The efficaciousness of the oral piscine vaccine nano-delivery system was evaluated for its level of antibody production and for the level of disease prevention in tilapia. Herein, unmodified HNTs (H) and modified HNTs [HNT-Chitosan (HC), HNT-APTES (HA) and HNT-APTES-Chitosan (HAC)] successfully harbored streptococcal bivalent vaccine with inactivated S. agalactiae, designated as HF, HAF, HCF and HACF. The releasing of the loading antigens in the mimic digestive tract demonstrated a diverse pattern of protein releasing depending on the types of HNTs. Remarkably, HCF could properly release loading antigens with relevance to the increasing pH buffer. The oral vaccines revealed the greatest elevation of specific antibodies to S. agalactiae serotype Ia in HCF orally administered fish and to some extent in serotype III. The efficacy of streptococcal disease protection was determined by continually feeding with HF-, HAF-, HCF- and HACF-coated feed pellets for 7 days in the 1st and 3rd week. HCF showed significant RPS (75.00 ± 10.83%) among the other tested groups. Interestingly, the HCF-treated group exhibited noticeable efficacy similar to the bivalent-vaccine-injected group (RPS 81.25 ± 0.00%). This novel nano-delivery system for the fish vaccine was successfully developed and exhibited appropriated immune stimulation and promised disease prevention through oral administration. This delivery system can greatly support animals’ immune stimulation, which conquers the limitation in vaccine applications in aquaculture systems. Moreover, this delivery system can be applied to carrying diverse types of biologics, including DNA, RNA and subunit protein vaccines. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vaccine Immunology)
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14 pages, 2155 KiB  
Article
Prospective, Longitudinal Study on Specific Cellular Immune Responses after Vaccination with an Adjuvanted, Recombinant Zoster Vaccine in Kidney Transplant Recipients
by Monika Lindemann, Charleen Baumann, Benjamin Wilde, Anja Gäckler, Lara Meller, Peter A. Horn, Adalbert Krawczyk and Oliver Witzke
Vaccines 2022, 10(6), 844; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10060844 - 26 May 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2320
Abstract
Solid organ transplant recipients have an up to ninefold higher risk of varicella–zoster virus (VZV) reactivation than the general population. Due to lifelong immunosuppressive therapy, vaccination against VZV may be less effective in kidney transplant (KTX) recipients. In the current study, twelve female [...] Read more.
Solid organ transplant recipients have an up to ninefold higher risk of varicella–zoster virus (VZV) reactivation than the general population. Due to lifelong immunosuppressive therapy, vaccination against VZV may be less effective in kidney transplant (KTX) recipients. In the current study, twelve female and 17 male KTX recipients were vaccinated twice with the adjuvanted, recombinant zoster vaccine Shingrix™, which contains the VZV glycoprotein E (gE). Cellular immunity against various VZV antigens was analyzed with interferon-gamma ELISpot. We observed the strongest vaccination-induced changes after stimulation with a gE peptide pool. One month after the second vaccination, median responses were 8.0-fold higher than the responses prior to vaccination (p = 0.0006) and 4.8-fold higher than responses after the first vaccination (p = 0.0007). After the second vaccination, we observed an at least twofold increase in ELISpot responses towards gE peptides in 22 out of 29 patients (76%). Male sex, good kidney function, early time point after transplantation, and treatment with tacrolimus or mycophenolate were correlated significantly with higher VZV-specific cellular immunity, whereas diabetes mellitus was correlated with impaired responses. Thus, our data indicate that vaccination with Shingrix™ significantly augmented cellular, VZV gE-specific immunity in KTX recipients, which was dependent on several covariates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vaccine Immunology)
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Review

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33 pages, 3687 KiB  
Review
Vaccine Formulation Strategies and Challenges Involved in RNA Delivery for Modulating Biomarkers of Cardiovascular Diseases: A Race from Laboratory to Market
by Md. Adil Shaharyar, Rudranil Bhowmik, Fahad A. Al-Abbasi, Shareefa A. AlGhamdi, Amira M. Alghamdi, Arnab Sarkar, Imran Kazmi and Sanmoy Karmakar
Vaccines 2023, 11(2), 241; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11020241 - 21 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2008
Abstract
It has been demonstrated that noncoding RNAs have significant physiological and pathological roles. Modulation of noncoding RNAs may offer therapeutic approaches as per recent findings. Small RNAs, mostly long noncoding RNAs, siRNA, and microRNAs make up noncoding RNAs. Inhibiting or promoting protein breakdown [...] Read more.
It has been demonstrated that noncoding RNAs have significant physiological and pathological roles. Modulation of noncoding RNAs may offer therapeutic approaches as per recent findings. Small RNAs, mostly long noncoding RNAs, siRNA, and microRNAs make up noncoding RNAs. Inhibiting or promoting protein breakdown by binding to 3’ untranslated regions of target mRNA, microRNAs post-transcriptionally control the pattern of gene expression. Contrarily, long non-coding RNAs perform a wider range of tasks, including serving as molecular scaffolding, decoys, and epigenetic regulators. This article provides instances of long noncoding RNAs and microRNAs that may be a biomarker of CVD (cardiovascular disease). In this paper we highlight various RNA-based vaccine formulation strategies designed to target these biomarkers—that are either currently in the research pipeline or are in the global pharmaceutical market—along with the physiological hurdles that need to be overcome. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vaccine Immunology)
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26 pages, 1430 KiB  
Review
Immunotherapies for the Treatment of Drug Addiction
by Md Kamal Hossain, Majid Davidson, Erica Kypreos, Jack Feehan, Joshua Alexander Muir, Kulmira Nurgali and Vasso Apostolopoulos
Vaccines 2022, 10(11), 1778; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10111778 - 22 Oct 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4250
Abstract
Substance use disorders (SUD) are a serious public health concern globally. Existing treatment platforms suffer from a lack of effectiveness. The development of immunotherapies against these substances of abuse for both prophylactic and therapeutic use has gained tremendous importance as an alternative and/or [...] Read more.
Substance use disorders (SUD) are a serious public health concern globally. Existing treatment platforms suffer from a lack of effectiveness. The development of immunotherapies against these substances of abuse for both prophylactic and therapeutic use has gained tremendous importance as an alternative and/or supplementary to existing therapies. Significant development has been made in this area over the last few decades. Herein, we highlight the vaccine and other biologics development strategies, preclinical, clinical updates along with challenges and future directions. Articles were searched in PubMed, ClinicalTrial.gov, and google electronic databases relevant to development, preclinical, clinical trials of nicotine, cocaine, methamphetamine, and opioid vaccines. Various new emerging vaccine development strategies for SUD were also identified through this search and discussed. A good number of vaccine candidates demonstrated promising results in preclinical and clinical phases and support the concept of developing a vaccine for SUD. However, there have been no ultimate success as yet, and there remain some challenges with a massive push to take more candidates to clinical trials for further evaluation to break the bottleneck. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vaccine Immunology)
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