Systems Biology-Based Approaches Applied to Vaccine Development

Vaccines represent one of the most cost-effective ways to prevent and treat diseases. The use of vaccines in the control of viral diseases represents an important milestone in the history of medicine. The genomic revolution brought us the possibility to scan genomes in the search of new and more effective vaccine candidates and the advancement of bioinformatics provided the framework for the application of strategies that were focused not only on antigen discovery but also on comparative genomics, and pathogenic factor identification and data mining. In addition, the progress in post-genomic technologies including gene expression technologies such as microarray and proteomics gave us the opportunity to explore the host responses to vaccines leading to a better understanding of immune responses to pathogens and/or to vaccines, assisting in the development of new and better vaccines and adjuvants. This chapter will review how systems biology-based approaches including genomics, gene expression technologies, and bioinformatics have changed the way of thinking about antigen discovery and vaccine development. In addition, the chapter will discuss how the study of the host responses in combination with “in silico” approaches could help predict immunogenicity and improve the efficacy of vaccines.