Virus-like particles: potential veterinary vaccine immunogens

Virus-like particle (VLP) composed of outer shell but no genome of virus mimics the natural configuration of authentic virion and has no characteristics of self-replication. A close resemblance to native viruses in molecular scaffolds and an absence of genomes make VLPs effectively elicit both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses even with no requirement of adjuvant for vaccines. As effective immunogens, characterized by high immunogenicity and safety, VLPs have been employed in production of human vaccines, such as the licensed vaccines of hepatitis B virus and human papillomavirus. However, there has been no report of licensed veterinary VLP vaccine worldwide as yet. Despite the wide application in vaccination, both the conventional inactivated and live attenuated vaccines for animals are subject to potential limitations due to incomplete inactivation and reversion to virulence. Therefore, those conventional vaccines may, to some extent, be replaced with the VLP-based vaccines conferring higher protection and safety to vaccinated animals. Here, we review the current status of VLPs as veterinary vaccines, and discuss the characteristics and problems associated with generating VLPs for different animal viruses.