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What Are Phage-based Vaccines?

Phages have been regarded as vaccine delivery vehicles due to their unique biological characteristics, such as high stability under a variety of harsh environments, easy to manipulate, purify, and produce on a large scale, as well as non-pathogenic and inert vehicles in eukaryotic cells. Whole phage particles can be designed to deliver the immunogenic peptides or DNA vaccines to the target cells or tissues. Compared to traditional vaccines, phage-based vaccines have several advantages: 1) phage particles can protect peptides or DNA vaccines from degradation, thus increasing their stability in host eukaryotic cells; 2) peptides or DNA vaccines can be displayed on or inserted into phages in their native context; 3) phage-based vaccines can be easily manufactured on a large scale by using phages to infect bacteria, thus decreasing cost of production. A number of studies have revealed that phage-based vaccines can trigger the host immune system, used for preventing or treating various diseases including viral, bacterial, parasitic diseases, fungal infection, and cancer.