Virus-like particle

Virus-like particles (VLPs) are molecules that closely resemble viruses, but are non-infectious because they contain no viral genetic material. They can be naturally occurring or synthetically produced in a variety of systems including plants, insects, and mammalian cells.

Structure

VLPs mimic the organization and conformation of authentic native viruses but lack the viral genome, potentially yielding safer vaccines. They are a type of subunit vaccine. Subunit vaccines, unlike inactivated or attenuated vaccines, cannot cause an infection because they do not contain any viral genetic material.

Applications

VLPs have been produced for many viruses and these have been used to study processes such as virus assembly and disassembly, entry and exit from cells, and immune responses to viruses. VLPs also have potential uses in gene therapy and nanotechnology.

Vaccines

VLPs have been used to develop several vaccines which are licensed for human use, including vaccines against Hepatitis B virus and Human papillomavirus (HPV). VLPs can stimulate both the humoral and cellular arms of the adaptive immune response.

See also

• Vaccine
• Subunit vaccine
• Hepatitis B virus
• Human papillomavirus

References

Virus-like particle Resources
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