# Live attenuated-nonpathogenic Leishmania and DNA structures as promising vaccine platforms against leishmaniasis: innovations can make waves

## TL;DR

This paper reviews innovative vaccine strategies against leishmaniasis, focusing on live attenuated and DNA-based approaches to address the lack of an effective human vaccine.

## Contribution

The paper highlights novel vaccine platforms and technologies like CRISPR/Cas9 to overcome challenges in leishmaniasis vaccine development.

## Key findings

- Live attenuated and DNA vaccines are promising for leishmaniasis vaccine development.
- Sandfly saliva's role in disease progression offers new insights for vaccine design.
- Reverse genetics and antibiotic-free selection improve vaccine platform effectiveness.

## Abstract

Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease caused by the protozoan parasite of Leishmania genus and is a complex disease affecting mostly tropical regions of the world. Unfortunately, despite the extensive effort made, there is no vaccine available for human use. Undoubtedly, a comprehensive understanding of the host-vector-parasite interaction is substantial for developing an effective prophylactic vaccine. Recently the role of sandfly saliva on disease progression has been uncovered which can make a substantial contribution in vaccine design. In this review we try to focus on the strategies that most probably meet the prerequisites of vaccine development (based on the current understandings) including live attenuated/non-pathogenic and subunit DNA vaccines. Innovative approaches such as reverse genetics, CRISP/R-Cas9 and antibiotic-free selection are now available to promisingly compensate for intrinsic drawbacks associated with these platforms. Our main goal is to call more attention toward the prerequisites of effective vaccine development while controlling the disease outspread is a substantial need.