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1.1 Introduction

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Currently, infectious diseases are the primary cause of mortality. They are caused by microorganisms like viruses, bacteria, fungi, or other parasites. The human immune system fights and removes foreign invading particles [1, 2]. A vaccine is a living, dead, attenuated, inactivated form of a pathogenic microbe, such as a bacterium or virus, or a component of the pathogenic microbe’s structure, which enhances antibody production in the host body but is incapable of causing severe illness [3]. It develops immunity to control and adjust our immune systems from over-reactivity or underactivity [4, 5]. Vaccines have become an everyday part of life, providing a high-impact benefit to human by preventing or managing a wide range of diseases. Vaccine development has a long and glorious history that started late in the 18th century. Louis Pasteur’s laboratory’s first attempts to vaccine development [6]. The development of vaccines is crucial to the successful control of many deadly diseases. However, efficient preventative and therapeutic vaccinations for totally healing lethal diseases and major microbial infections have yet to be produced. On the other hand, critical challenges that need to be addressed include the design, manufacture, and global distribution of vaccines. To design a vaccine, the antigen, adjuvant, manufacturing method, and delivery strategy should be established. Antigen is a pathogen-derived foreign substance that can elicit an immunological response within the host. A vaccine can be classified into four types based on its antigen: live-attenuated vaccine, inactivated vaccine, subunit vaccine, and peptide-based vaccine. Adjuvants are immunomodulatory agents that are used to boost immune reaction. The first adjuvant, aluminum was designed to boost the production of antibodies, making it an excellent choice for vaccine development [7, 8]. If genetic and structural information about microorganisms is known, vaccinations can be developed quickly. Nanotechnology platforms are particularly beneficial in current vaccine development and have accelerated the testing of novel prospective vaccines. Recently nanoparticles (NPs), as vaccine delivery vehicles, have received tremendous attention. Nanovaccine formulations not only improve antigen integrity and immunity, but they also provide selective distribution and sustained release. A wide range of NPs antigens with varying physicochemical properties have been authorized for clinical use [9–11]. The primary goal of using NPs delivery methods is to delay antigen presentation and uptake by dendritic cells (DCs), resulting in immediate DC activation [9, 11, 12]. Antigen and adjuvant are also protected from early enzyme and protease degradation by NPs [13]. Vaccine antigens can be administered to the target site by enclosing them in NPs or conjugated particles (Figure 1.1). NPs can be designed with peptide, protein, polymer, and other targeting ligands for vaccine formulations due to their unique physical and chemical properties, including as greater surface area, variable shape and size with various surface charges, and other targeting ligands. Although NPs have the benefits listed above, they also have drawbacks, such as a lack of mechanical stability under physiological conditions due to protein corona development and unfavorable interactions with the endothelial system [14, 15]. Biocompatible NPs have improved physical stability while avoiding unwanted interactions with immune cells and boosting blood supply [16, 17], which imitate biological membranes. The nanovaccines that use carrier biomimetic NPs allow prolonged circulation and avoid cytotoxicity when delivered to the body [18].


Figure 1.1 The interactions of NPs with the target antigen. Reproduced (adapted) from [19]. Copyright 2013, Elsevier.

Nanotechnology has opened the way for developing novel vaccines based on nanomaterials, which have unique qualities and serve as antigenic delivery systems and immunomodulatory substances. Multiple research groups in the area are developing nanovaccines for a variety of diseases, and tremendous advantages from this nanotechnology are expected in the coming decades for both animal and human health.

Nanovaccinology as Targeted Therapeutics

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