Landes Highlights

Rotavirus (RV) is the most important cause of severe gastroenteritis in children worldwide. Currently available live RV vaccines are efficacious but show lower efficacy in developing countries, as well as a low risk of intussusception. this has led to the development of parenteral non-live candidate vaccines against RV. RV capsid VP6 protein is highly conserved and the most abundant RV protein forming highly immunogenic oligomeric structures with multivalent antigen expression. Both recombinant VP6 (rVP6) or double-layered (dl) 2/6-virus-like particles (VLPs) might be considered as the simplest RV subunit vaccine candidates and were produced and tested in animals by dr Vesna Blazevic and colleagues. the candidate vaccines were produced in insect cells using a baculovirus expression system, and formation of rVP6 tubules and VLPs were confirmed by electron microscopy. intramuscular immunization of mice with either rVP6 or dl2/6-VLPs induced Development of non-live vaccines against rotavirus