Rotaviruses are leading causes of worldwide acute diarrhea in children younger than 5 years old, with severe consequence of social and economic burden. Vaccination is the most effective way to control rotavirus infection, however, the licensed rotavirus vaccines are ineffective in some low-income countries of Africa and Asia, where the mortality caused by rotavirus is higher than other areas. In addition, there are also safety concerns such as increased risk of intussusception. Therefore, it is urgent to improve the efficiency and safety of rotavirus vaccine to reduce the morbidity and mortality caused by rotavirus. Till now, many efforts are made to improve the effectiveness of rotavirus vaccines, and the inactive vaccine becomes the main trend in the research of rotavirus vaccine. The developments in recombinant rotavirus vaccines, especially in VP4 subunit vaccines are summarized in this review, and it could be helpful to develop effective recombinant rotavirus vaccines in further studies.
轮状病毒是全球范围内导致5岁以下婴幼儿严重腹泻的主要病原体，造成了巨大的经济负担和社会负担。疫苗预防接种是控制轮状病毒感染最为有效的手段，但在轮状病毒导致的死亡率较高的非洲和亚洲部分低收入国家，目前已经上市的轮状病毒疫苗的有效性较低，且会增加肠套叠的风险。更加安全、有效的轮状病毒疫苗对于降低轮状病毒感染导致的发病率和死亡率具有重要意义。目前，各国科研人员试图从多个方面提高轮状病毒疫苗的有效性，非复制型基因工程亚单位疫苗是目前轮状病毒疫苗研究的主要方向。文中就目前轮状病毒亚单位疫苗，特别是基于VP4蛋白的亚单位疫苗的研究进展进行了综述，以期对轮状病毒疫苗的发展提供借鉴意义。.
Keywords: VP4; diarrhea; rotavirus; subunit vaccines.