Bioengineering of Virus-like Particles for the Prevention or Treatment of Allergic Diseases.

Bioengineering of Virus-like Particles for the Prevention or Treatment of Allergic Diseases. Allergy Asthma Immunol Res. 2021 Jan;13(1):23-41 Authors: Pechsrichuang P, Namwongnao S, Jacquet A Abstract Recent findings on the mechanism of allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) have revisited the role of immunoglobulin G (IgG) as the development of specific blocking IgG antibodies appeared critical for the successful suppression of T-helper 2 (Th2)-biased allergic responses. Consequently, any form of molecular AIT-promoting potent allergen-specific neutralizing antibodies would be preferred to conventional administration of allergen extracts. The potent immunogenicity of virus-like particles (VLPs) could be harnessed for that purpose. The particle size (20-200 nm) optimizes uptake by antigen-presenting cells as well as lymphatic trafficking. Moreover, the display of antigens in repetitive arrays promotes potent B cell activation for the development of sustained antibody responses. The presentation of self-antigens on the particle surface was even capable to break B cell tolerance. In this review, we describe the immunomodulatory properties of the 3 VLP-based strategies designed so far for the treatment of allergic disease: VLP packaged with CpG motifs as well as chimeric particles displaying pro-Th2/Th2 cytokines or allergens (full-length or B cell epitopes). PMID: 33191675 [PubMed]
Source: Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Research - Category: Allergy & Immunology Tags: Allergy Asthma Immunol Res Source Type: research