Vaccinomics Case

Article Summary 1

Omics is a relatively newly coined term that refers to all the components taken into account collectively, and the suffix ‘ome' is the object of investigation of the field (Bagnoli et al., 2011). Omics research has given rise to a plethora of fields such as genomics, immunomics, proteomics, and vaccinomics (Bagnoli et al., 2011). Genomics is the study of the complete collection of genes of an organism; immunomics is the study of the collection of antigens recognized by an organism's immune system; and, proteomics is the study of the complete collection of proteins expressed by a cell, tissue, or organism (Bagnoli et al., 2011). These

Omics' research and its associated technologies have transformed vaccine development. In the past, vaccines were developed using inactivated pathogens (i.e., first generation vaccines) and cell components from microbes that had been purified (i.e., second generation vaccines) (Bagnoli et al., 2011). Omics is increasingly being applied to vaccinology, resulting in the development of third generation vaccines (Bagnoli et al., 2011). There are three chief omics' approaches to vaccine discovery: "genomics-based antigen selection" (GBAS), "proteomic-based antigen" selection (PBAS), and "immunomics-based antigen selection" (IBAS) approaches (Bagnoli et al., 2011, pp. 545-554).

GBAS uses comparative genomics (the comparison of various genomes to ascertain antigen conservation) and pan-genomics (the study of basically every gene present in every strain of a species) (Bagnoli et al., 2011). This results in an increased understanding of "intraspecies and interspecies antigen variability and distribution" (Bagnoli et al., 2011, p. 549). Antigens that found in both pathogenic and nonpathogenic commensal strains are unlikely to be responsible for virulence; such antigens are also unlikely to be prime protein vaccine candidates (Bagnoli et al., 2011). Antigens that are particular to pathogenic strains are chosen as chosen as hypothetically relating (correlating) with virulence (Bagnoli et al., 2011). Consequently, antigens that are found in both pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains can be eliminated from the list of potential vaccine candidates; this decreases the number of vaccine candidates to test in the animal model as well as the length of time needed for vaccine delivery (Bagnoli et al., 2011).

In silico or computer simulated analysis has allows protein vaccine candidates to be identified by determining their hypothetical (putative) cellular location (Bagnoli et al., 2011). . This method, which is known as reverse vaccinology assumes that surface proteins and secreted proteins are easier for antibodies to access and