Plant Viruses: New Opportunities under the Pandemic

During the pandemic, an urgent task has become to develop new vaccine platforms that will help fight the infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 and quickly respond to newly emerging pathogens. Plant viruses can make a significant contribution to the solution of this problem. Phytoviruses, having the properties of any viral particles (self-assembly, immunogenicity, nanosize), are safe for humans since plants and mammals have no common infectious agents. As a result of thermal rearrangement of the tobacco mosaic virus, spherical particles of a protein nature have been obtained, which have unique immunostimulation and adsorption properties and can play the role of a universal adjuvant platform to create vaccines. Based on these particles, a scheme for obtaining vaccine preparations is proposed. This technology resembles a toy construction set for children. The basis is spherical particles, on the surface of which there are toy blocks-antigens. The blocks can be removed, added, or replaced, and this does not take much time and resources. Based on spherical particles, a polyvalent vaccine candidate against COVID-19 has been created as an adjuvant platform.

Automated summary

Developing new vaccine platforms during the pandemic is crucial, and plant viruses can play a significant role due to their safety and unique immunostimulation and adsorption properties.