Coping with genetic diversity: the contribution of pathogen and human genomics to modern vaccinology

Lemaire, D.; Barbosa, T.; Rihet, P.

In conclusion, genomics of infectious agents will accelerate the identification of new relevant vaccine candidate antigens, including antigens that are conserved between strains or collectively cover the diversity of strains and that are the targets of protective immune responses. The genome-based approaches should help in developing vaccines against old, but so far uncontrolled, infectious diseases that are expected in developing countries, and may play a critical role in the design of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases as well as non-infectious diseases. The identification of relevant molecular targets will require further research on protective immune responses and the development of immunological tools. Recent investigations that have systematically searched for viral protein-human protein interactions open new avenues for understanding host-pathogen interactions and therapeutic strategies. Further research on the mechanisms of action of adjuvants and the use and restraints of relevant animal models will be mandatory. The human genetic variation should also be taken into account when analyzing the response to vaccination. Vaccine strategies may have to be adapted to target groups in order to optimize vaccination efficacy and reduce the risk of adverse events. Similarly, the possibility of a personalized vaccination strategy (appropriate dose, schedule and even molecular components of the vaccine?) has been suggested, which would be based on individual information, including genome-wide genetic information. This implies the ability to predict an individual response to the vaccine. The challenge is to develop new tools that are necessary to accurately construct and model molecular networks, the perturbation of which causes either the absence of response or adverse events.