Peptide-Based Nanovaccines in the Treatment of Cervical Cancer: A Review of Recent Advances

Abstract

Jiahui Zhang,1,* Jingyi Fan,1,* Mariusz Skwarczynski,1 Rachel J Stephenson,1 Istvan Toth,1– 3 Waleed M Hussein1 1School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia; 2School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD, Australia; 3Institute for Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Waleed M Hussein, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia, Tel [phone], Email [email protected]: Persistent infection with high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs), such as HPV-16 and HPV-18, can induce cervical cancer in humans. The disease carries high morbidity and mortality among females worldwide. Inoculation with prophylactic HPV vaccines, such as Gardasil® or Cervarix®, is the predominant method of preventing cervical cancer in females 6 to 26 years of age. However, despite the availability of commercial prophylactic HPV vaccines, no therapeutic HPV vaccines to eliminate existing HPV infections have been approved. Peptide-based vaccines, which form one of the most potent vaccine platforms, have been broadly investigated to overcome this shortcoming. Peptide-based vaccines are especially effective in inducing cellular immune responses and eradicating tumor cells when combined with nanoscale adjuvant particles and delivery systems. This review summarizes progress in the development of peptide-based nanovaccines against HPV infection.Keywords: human papillomavirus, cervical cancer, peptide-based vaccines, nanovaccine

Keywords

• human papillomavirus
• cervical cancer
• peptide-based vaccines
• nanovaccine