Reverse vaccinology
Encyclopedia
Reverse vaccinology is an improvement on vaccinology, pioneered by Rino Rappuoli
and first used against meningococcus. Since then, it has been used on several other organisms.
ic genome
can be screened using bioinformatics
approaches to find genes. Next, those genes are filtered for desirable attributes that would make good vaccine targets such as outer membrane protein
s. Those proteins then undergo normal wet lab testing for immune responses.
s.
Rino Rappuoli
Rino Rappuoli, PhD is known globally for his work in vaccines and immunology. He co-founded the field of cellular microbiology, a discipline combining cell biology and microbiology, and pioneered the genomic approach to vaccine development known as reverse vaccinology.Dr...
and first used against meningococcus. Since then, it has been used on several other organisms.
Computational approach
The basic idea behind Reverse Vaccinology is that an entire pathogenPathogen
A pathogen gignomai "I give birth to") or infectious agent — colloquially, a germ — is a microbe or microorganism such as a virus, bacterium, prion, or fungus that causes disease in its animal or plant host...
ic genome
Genome
In modern molecular biology and genetics, the genome is the entirety of an organism's hereditary information. It is encoded either in DNA or, for many types of virus, in RNA. The genome includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences of the DNA/RNA....
can be screened using bioinformatics
Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics is the application of computer science and information technology to the field of biology and medicine. Bioinformatics deals with algorithms, databases and information systems, web technologies, artificial intelligence and soft computing, information and computation theory, software...
approaches to find genes. Next, those genes are filtered for desirable attributes that would make good vaccine targets such as outer membrane protein
Membrane protein
A membrane protein is a protein molecule that is attached to, or associated with the membrane of a cell or an organelle. More than half of all proteins interact with membranes.-Function:...
s. Those proteins then undergo normal wet lab testing for immune responses.
Pros and cons
The major advantage for Reverse Vaccinology is finding vaccine targets quickly and efficiently. The downside is that only proteins can be targeted using this process. Normal vaccinology approaches can find other biomolecular targets such as polysaccharidePolysaccharide
Polysaccharides are long carbohydrate molecules, of repeated monomer units joined together by glycosidic bonds. They range in structure from linear to highly branched. Polysaccharides are often quite heterogeneous, containing slight modifications of the repeating unit. Depending on the structure,...
s.