Plant-Based Virus-like Particle (VLP) Vaccines Against Influenza and Hepatitis Viruses
Year: 2026
Type: review
Abstract: Influenza viruses constantly evolve due to sporadic antigenic shifts and point mutations, which undermine vaccine effectiveness. Newly drifted pathogenic variants make current vaccines inadequate against circulating strains, requiring frequent updates to vaccine formulations. On the other hand, hepatitis viruses such as HAV, HBV, and HCV can cause acute and chronic infection of the liver, leading to liver cirrhosis and cancer. Currently, there is no vaccination for HCV, and access to vaccines for HAV and HBV is also limited in developing countries. Plant-derived vaccines against influenza virus afford many advantages over egg-derived conventional methods. Plant virus-like particles (pVLPs) are non-infectious, contain virus structural features with high flexibility, and can be tailored to meet specific biotechnological needs. pVLPs are preferable for vaccine development due to being economically viable and can be produced more rapidly and with fewer complications. Recombinant antigens contained within the plant tissues (particularly in seeds) show better stability and can be transported and stored at ambient temperatures, without the requirement of a cold chain framework. Edible plant-derived oral vaccines offer needle-free vaccine administration. By simply cultivating more plants, vaccine production can be scaled up while transient plant expression systems speed up production within a few weeks, which is critical for quick response to emerging new disease outbreaks. By genetic modification, plants can be used to express several antigens, facilitating the development of multi-component vaccines against many diseases at a single shot. Nicotiana benthamiana has been extensively utilized as a plant-based expression platform to generate recombinant influenza vaccine antigens, including hemagglutinin (HA). Plant-derived hepatitis vaccines, principally targeting HBV, have been shown to elicit robust immune responses in preclinical studies and early clinical trials through the expression of HBV surface antigen in plants such as lettuce, potato, and tobacco. However, challenges such as achieving consistent dosing, obtaining sufficiently high, reproducible, and stable expression levels, and circumventing regulatory hurdles for the use of plant-based pharmaceuticals remain. The current review focuses on recent developments in the production of plant-based influenza and hepatitis vaccines, and explores the advantages, challenges, and application of such vaccines in combating these infections.
Source: Vaccines
Language: English
Subfield: Biotechnology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,258
OpenAlex ID: W7204144424