Reverse Vaccinology

About Reverse Vaccinology

• Reverse vaccinology is a process of vaccine discovery that starts in silico (on a computer) using the genetic information of a pathogen, rather than starting in the laboratory with the pathogen itself.
• Coined by: The term reverse vaccinology was coined by Rino Rappuoli in 2000.
• Working Mechanism: It combines bioinformatics, genomics, proteomics, and immunology to identify and validate potential vaccine targets.
  • Scientists first sequence the pathogen’s genome to obtain information about its genes and proteins.
  • Scientists use bioinformatic tools to study the genes in the genome and identify those that can produce proteins located on the pathogen’s surface.
  • Protein Identification: Scientists select proteins that are easily accessible to the immune system and have little or no similarity to human proteins.
    • They further assess their predicted shape, stability, and ability to produce a strong and lasting immune response.
  • The identified proteins are tested in animals or through laboratory assays to determine whether they can stimulate an immune response and provide protection.
• Key Features of Reverse Vaccinology:
  • It reduces the time needed to identify and isolate suitable antigens compared with conventional vaccine design.
  • It can support vaccine development against pathogens that cannot be grown in culture.
  • It helps identify potential vaccine targets when it is difficult to determine which antigens can produce a protective immune response.
  • It can help identify proteins shared across different serotypes, which may support the development of vaccines with wider coverage.
• Limitations: It cannot identify carbohydrates and other cellular structures that are not directly encoded by the genome.
• Applications:
  • First use: It was first used against Neisseria meningitidis for vaccine development.
  • COVID-19: Genome sequencing helped identify the spike-protein gene for COVID-19 vaccine development.
  • Pneumococcal vaccine: Scientists are using the approach to identify proteins for a universal pneumococcal vaccine.