In recent years, tissue‐resident memory T cells (TRM) have attracted significant attention in the field of vaccine development. Distinct from central and effector memory T cells, TRMcells take up residence in home tissues such as the lung or urogenital tract and are ideally positioned to respond quickly to pathogen encounter. TRMare found to play a role in the immune response against many globally important infectious diseases for which new or improved vaccines are needed, including influenza and tuberculosis. It is also increasingly clear that TRMplay a pivotal role in cancer immunity. Thus, vaccines that can generate this memory T cell population are highly desirable. The field of immunoengineering—that is, the application of engineering principles to study the immune system and design new and improved therapies that harness or modulate immune responses—is ideally poised to provide solutions to this need for next‐generation TRMvaccines. This review covers recent developments in vaccine technologies for generating TRMand protecting against infection and cancer, including viral vectors, virus‐like particles, and synthetic and natural biomaterials. In addition, it offers critical insights on the future of engineering vaccines for tissue‐resident memory T cells.
Infectious diseases are a major threat to global human health, yet prophylactic treatment options can be limited, as safe and efficacious vaccines exist only for a fraction of all diseases. Notably, devastating diseases such as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID‐19) currently do not have vaccine therapies. Conventional vaccine platforms, such as live attenuated vaccines and whole inactivated vaccines, can be difficult to manufacture, may cause severe side effects, and can potentially induce severe infection. Subunit vaccines carry far fewer safety concerns due to their inability to cause vaccine‐based infections. The applicability of protein nanoparticles (NPs) as vaccine scaffolds is promising to prevent infectious diseases, and they have been explored for a number of viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic diseases. Many types of protein NPs exist, including self‐assembling NPs, bacteriophage‐derived NPs, plant virus‐derived NPs, and human virus‐based vectors, and these particular categories will be covered in this review. These vaccines can elicit strong humoral and cellular immune responses against specific pathogens, as well as provide protection against infection in a number of animal models. Furthermore, published clinical trials demonstrate the promise of applying these NP vaccine platforms, which include bacteriophage‐derived NPs, in addition to multiple viral vectors that are currently used in the clinic. The continued investigations of protein NP vaccine platforms are critical to generate safer alternatives to current vaccines, advance vaccines for diseases that currently lack effective prophylactic therapies, and prepare for the rapid development of new vaccines against emerging infectious diseases.
This article is categorized under: Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Infectious Disease Biology‐Inspired Nanomaterials > Protein and Virus‐Based Structures
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10452032
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- WIREs Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology
- Volume:
- 13
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 1939-5116
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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