Abstract

Virus-like particles (VLPs) have been used for several decades as scaffolds for the display of vaccine antigens. This has proven to be a an effective strategy- selected antigens derived from diverse pathogens have been incorporated into VLPs and used as candidate vaccines against influenza, malaria, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. A common approach to fuse antigen is genetic fusion, where the antigen is joined to the capsid protein as a single polypeptide. This method is unreliable, however, arising from inaccuracies in predicting the consequences of protein engineering. This invention relates to a specific method for attachment of any combination of antigens to a modified VLP without any further modification of the scaffold. The scaffold consists of the Hepatitis B core particle (HBc) which has been modified to incorporate an antibody-binding protein at its surface. It will therefore bind any protein containing an antibody Fc fragment. A separate avenue of investigation in vaccinology relates to the use of monoclonal antibodies against surface receptors common to immune cells for receptor-mediated uptake of antigen-antibody complex. The complex can be delivered effectively to a specific subset of immune cells of interest.