Zika virus (ZIKV) caused unprecedented outbreaks in South America and the Caribbean in 2015–2016, leading primarily to a series of abnormalities in neonates termed congenital Zika syndrome. The threat of ZIKV reemergence has seen the development of multiple ZIKV vaccines that are at the preclinical stage or in early-stage clinical trials. Aravinda de Silva, PhD, MPH, describes a pathway to the development of ZIKV vaccines generated using a baculovirus-insect cell expression system, which is widely applied for the manufacture of biologics for human use.
His study reiterates the need to present the immune system with E dimers arranged in authentic quaternary conformations and provides a scalable production method for this novel ZIKV vaccine. It also highlights the importance of challenge experiments to ascertain whether the responses induced by an experimental vaccine actually mediate protection against virus infection and disease.