REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Vaccines and Molecular Therapeutics
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1651594
MS2 Virus-Like Particles as a Versatile Platform for Multi-Disease Vaccines: A Review
Provisionally accepted
- 1Liaocheng University School of Agriculture and Biology, Liaocheng, China
- 2Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, China
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The coat protein of the MS2 self-assembles into virus-like particles (VLPs) with a diameter of 26 nm. These VLPs are devoid of the phage genome yet are efficiently recognized by the immune system, eliciting robust humoral and cellular immune responses. The structural characteristics of VLPs position them as a promising platform for the development of vaccines and diagnostic tools. Through genetic engineering, antigenic peptides up to 91 amino acids in length can be densely displayed at the N-terminal β-hairpin (AB loop) of the coat protein. Moreover, the fusion of an exogenous sequence with the 19-nucleotide pac site enables the selective incorporation of heterologous RNA into the VLPs. This feature has facilitated the broad application of VLPs in mRNA vaccine development. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the advancements in MS2 phage coat protein VLP-based vaccine research, with a particular focus on their versatile applications in viral, parasite, chlamydial, and cancer immunotherapy. This work aims to serve as a valuable reference for the continued development of vaccines utilizing MS2 phage coat protein VLPs.
Keywords: Bacteriophage, MS2, Coat protein (CP), VLPs, Vaccine
Received: 09 Jul 2025; Accepted: 19 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhou, Luo, Zhang, Cao and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Guodong Zhou, Liaocheng University School of Agriculture and Biology, Liaocheng, China
Yubao Li, Liaocheng University School of Agriculture and Biology, Liaocheng, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.