Design of broadly effective vaccine offers new hope in fight against hepatitis C

The development of an effective vaccine against hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been a significant challenge for decades due to the great genetic diversity of the virus. A research team has now obtained promising results. Using epitope-driven immunogens, they were able to induce broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) in laboratory models for the first time.

Their study was published in the journal Scientific advances. The researchers were led by Professor Thomas Krey from the Institute of Biochemistry and the Center for Structural and Cellular Biology in Medicine at the University of Lübeck, in collaboration with international partners.

Worldwide, approximately 58 million people are chronically infected with HCV, leading to 290,000 annual deaths from complications such as liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. Although modern antiviral treatments achieve high cure rates, global elimination of HCV remains a difficult goal due to inadequate early detection and limited therapeutic options.

Indeed, HCV has been identified as one of the global priority endemic pathogens for vaccine research and development in the World Health Organization’s “Immunization Agenda 2030.” It is one of the pathogens against which there is an urgent need for vaccines, as they represent a significant burden of disease. An effective vaccine could fill this gap and limit the spread of the virus.

“Our research lays the foundation for a new generation of vaccines. We are working to overcome the challenges posed by viral diversity and immunological evasion of HCV,” explains Professor Krey.

The team used new computational designs of proteins to mimic specific regions of the viral E1 and E2 glycoproteins, known as neutralization epitopes. These were transferred onto synthetic protein carriers and integrated into nanoparticles to elicit the most effective immune response possible.

The study demonstrated that these epitope-targeted immunogens in mouse models with a human antibody repertoire triggered a robust immune response. The antibodies produced were able to successfully neutralize several genetically diverse HCV strains.

Potential for vaccine development

The results of this study provide a promising approach to overcoming previous failures in developing an effective HCV vaccine. “This proof-of-concept approach not only brings us closer to an effective HCV vaccine, but could also set new standards in the development of vaccines against this and other medically important viruses,” says Dr. Kumar Nagarathinam , lead author of the study.

The study represents an important step in vaccine research and could help limit the global spread of hepatitis C in the long term. Future research aims to further improve the effectiveness of immunogens. Additionally, the knowledge gained could be applied to other viruses that pose similar challenges for vaccine development.