Yeast: A Potential Vaccine Delivery Carrier

Abstract

Yeasts are genetically tractable, and they share many features with humans. They represents a potential carrier for the delivery of drugs, proteins and genes for the treatment of various disease and disorders. Yeast offers various advantages such as rapid growth rate, inexpensive, easy availability, minimum growth requirements, allows genetic modification, non- immunogenic, natural adjuvant and well defined fermentation technology which makes them a suitable model for development of vaccines. The specific cellular characteristics possed by yeast makes them resistant to gastro-intestinal enviormnent and allows passage through the gastro-intestinal membrane, enabling them to be a potential carrier for oral vaccines. In this review, we seek to outline the beneficial role of yeast using its recombinant modification with supporting evidence to achieve effective vaccine delivery in stimulating and
modulating the immune response in the host. In addition, the efficacy of yeast based carrier for oral vaccines is also highlighted.