Vol. 12, Issue 6 (2023)

Author(s):
Gorre Venu, Satyabrat Dutta, Khushboo Panwar, Richa Sarkar, Esha Sinha, Ambika Arun, Arpita Sain and Sudhir Kumar Prajapati

Abstract:
Mucosal surfaces are a major portal of entry for many human pathogens that are the cause of infectious diseases worldwide. Mucosal immunization has potential benefits over conventional parenteral immunization, eliciting immune defence in both mucosal and systemic tissue for protecting from pathogen invasion at mucosal surfaces. However, numerous challenges remain in the way of creating a viable mucosal vaccination, including weak mucosal surface adhesion, insufficient uptake to penetrate the mucus, and challenges in avoiding potent gastrointestinal system breakdown. Recently, increasing efforts to overcome these issues have been made, and we herein summarize the latest findings on these strategies to develop mucosa-targeting vaccines, including different routes of administration, mucosa-targeting route, the development of mucosa-targeting vectors, the use of mucosal adjuvants, nanoparticle formulations, encapsulating vaccines into nanoparticle formulations, and M cell and Dendritic cell (DC) targeting vaccines. Here, I discuss the expanding knowledge on strategies and challenges used in the development of mucosal vaccines.