Virology

Antibody

Clinical trial

HPV infection

Biochemistry

Cervical cancer

Immunization

Virus

HPV vaccines

Biology

Gene

Antigen

Cancer

Recombinant DNA

Potency

Internal medicine

Virus-like particle

Antibody response

In vitro

Immunology

Medicine

Vaccine

HPV L1 virus-like particle (VLP) vaccines administered in a prime/boost series of three injections over six months have demonstrated remarkable prophylactic efficacy in clinical trials and effectiveness in national immunization programs with high rates of coverage. There is mounting evidence that the vaccines have similar efficacy and effectiveness even when administered in a single dose. The unexpected potency of one dose of these VLP vaccines may largely be attributed to structural features of the particles, which lead to the efficient generation of long-lived antigen-specific antibody-producing cells and unique features of the virus life cycle that make the HPV virions highly susceptible to antibody-mediated inhibition of infection.

Explanations for the high potency of HPV prophylactic vaccines