Modular engineering of a microbially-produced viral capsomere vaccine for influenza

► A synthetic biology approach to vaccine design is reported. ► A virus-like particle capsomere is engineered for antigen modularization. ► Modular capsomeres were synthesized in Escherichia coli with high soluble yield. ► 45 M2e modules were integrated into a single capsomere across three sites. ► Modularization of M2e peptide into a capsomere resulted in high immunogenicity.