Figure 1.

Overview of the production and use of BLPs. After treatment in hot acid, degradation products and acid are removed by washing with phosphate buffered saline (PBS). The BLPs are finally formulated in PBS. Vaccines are made by BLPs admixed with antigens (this formulation is of particular interest for the reformulation of existing vaccines) or antigens are bound to the surface of the BLPs. For this latter format, it is a requirement that the subunit antigens are produced as a fusion protein with the Protan tag in a suitable production organism. Mixing of an antigen-Protan solution with BLPs results in instant, strong, and stable non-covalent binding such that BLPs are completely covered at the surface with the antigen.