Advances in protein subunit vaccines against tuberculosis

Front Immunol. 2023 Aug 15:14:1238586. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1238586. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB), also known as the "White Plague", is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Before the COVID-19 epidemic, TB had the highest mortality rate of any single infectious disease. Vaccination is considered one of the most effective strategies for controlling TB. Despite the limitations of the Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine in terms of protection against TB among adults, it is currently the only licensed TB vaccine. Recently, with the evolution of bioinformatics and structural biology techniques to screen and optimize protective antigens of Mtb, the tremendous potential of protein subunit vaccines is being exploited. Multistage subunit vaccines obtained by fusing immunodominant antigens from different stages of TB infection are being used both to prevent and to treat TB. Additionally, the development of novel adjuvants is compensating for weaknesses of immunogenicity, which is conducive to the flourishing of subunit vaccines. With advances in the development of animal models, preclinical vaccine protection assessments are becoming increasingly accurate. This review summarizes progress in the research of protein subunit TB vaccines during the past decades to facilitate the further optimization of protein subunit vaccines that may eradicate TB.

Keywords: adjuvants; animal models; antigen epitopes; clinical trials; protein subunit vaccines; tuberculosis.

Publication types

  • Review
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • BCG Vaccine
  • COVID-19* / prevention & control
  • Protein Subunits
  • Tuberculosis Vaccines*
  • Tuberculosis* / prevention & control
  • Vaccines, Subunit

Substances

  • Protein Subunits
  • Vaccines, Subunit
  • Tuberculosis Vaccines
  • BCG Vaccine

Grants and funding

The work was supported by the grants from National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFC2302900, 2021YFC2301503), National Natural and Science Foundation of China (82171815, 82171739), Shanghai Hygiene and Health Outstanding Leader Project (2022XD060), Shanghai Science and Technology Commission (20Y11903400).