Subunit vaccines – antigens, carriers, conjugation methods and the role of adjuvants

Vaccines are effective tools protecting against the development of infectious diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms. Currently, we have vaccines protecting against many infections, where standard therapy is not only difficult but often impossible due to the ever-progressive increase in bacterial resistance to many available antibiotics. Among vaccines which have been used in the prevention of infection are the traditional vaccines containing live, killed or attenuated strains of microorganisms. However, it should be noted that such vaccines are not always effective, especially when the expected immune response is directed against specific antigens. Subunit vaccines belong to new generation vaccines and have gained more and more interest in recent years. These vaccines contain fragments of pathogenic microorganisms, which are highly purified and immunogenic antigens. Using these purified antigens excludes the risk of post-vaccination infection. In addition, subunit vaccines minimize side-effects associated with the use of whole bacterial cells. The paper discusses the most promising and the most tested antigens, vaccine carriers, conjugation methods and vaccine delivery systems which are being used in the design of subunit vaccines. This paper also highlights the advantages and disadvantages of adjuvants, which are substances to support the immune response in humans, and the relationship between adjuvants' efficacy and their mechanism of action.