Pseudoviruses, a safer toolbox for vaccine development against enveloped viruses

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Pseudoviruses are recombinant, replication-incompetent, viral particles designed to mimic the surface characteristics of native enveloped viruses. They are a safer, and cost-effective research alternative to live viruses. With the potential emergence of the next major infectious disease, more vaccine scientists must become familiar with the pseudovirus platform as a vaccine development tool to mitigate future outbreaks.

Areas Covered

This review aims at vaccine developers to provide a basic understanding of pseudoviruses, list their production methods, and discuss their utility to assess vaccine efficacy against enveloped viral pathogens. We further illustrate their usefulness as wet-lab simulators for emerging mutant variants, and new viruses to help prepare for current and future viral outbreaks, minimizing the need for gain-of-function experiments with highly infectious or lethal enveloped viruses.

Expert opinion

With this platform, researchers can better understand the role of virus–receptor interactions and entry in infections, prepare for dangerous mutations, and develop effective vaccines.

KEYWORDS:

• Pseudovirus
• enveloped viruses
• vaccine development
• neutralizing antibodies
• biosafe

Article highlights

• Replication incompetent pseudoviruses have been established for many enveloped viruses.

• Pseudoviruses allow for safer research on virus entry, cell tropism, and neutralizing antibodies.

• Pseudoviruses can be used to screen for anti-viral solutions before major outbreaks happen.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or material discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or mending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Reviewers on this manuscript have received honoraria for their review work. Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Acknowledgments

The authors express sincere gratitude to Dr. Ulrich Strych for proof reading the manuscript and providing valuable suggestions.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.