 |
|
LIAI Researchers Discover New Cellular Mechanism That Will Significantly Advance Vaccine Development
June 17, 2008La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology (LIAI) scientists have discovered one for the textbooks. Their finding, reported Friday in the scientific journal Immunity, illuminates a new, previously unknown mechanism in how the body fights a virus. The finding runs counter to traditional scientific understanding of this process and will provide scientists a more effective method for developing vaccines.
"Our research grew from the question, "why do you get good antibody responses to some parts of (virus) pathogens and poor responses to other parts?" said LIAI scientist Shane Crotty, Ph.D., the lead researcher on the paper, "Selective CD4 T cell help for antibody responses to a large viral pathogen: deterministic linkage of specificities." Alessandro Sette, Ph.D., a renowned vaccine expert and director of the LIAI Center for Infectious Disease, also was a key contributor on the study. Dr. Crotty said the team studied the smallpox vaccine, considered the "gold standard" of vaccines, and found some startling answers.
"We expected one thing based on textbook knowledge and that didn't happen at all," he said. It was known previously that getting a good antibody response requires two different cells of the immune system -- B cells and CD4 T cells, both soldiers in the immune system's defensive army. Antibody responses are important because they help the body fight off viruses and they also are key to vaccine development. Surprisingly, however, Dr. Crotty said the researchers found that B cells and CD4 T cells recognize the same piece of the virus.
"Previously, it was thought that the CD4 T cell could react to any part of the virus, but now we realize it must be specific to the same part as the B cell," he explained. "When you have a hundred different parts, this knowledge makes a big difference. It narrows down the search for the right antigens tremendously."
Scientists use knowledge of which antigens (virus pieces) trigger an antibody attack to develop vaccines. Vaccines work by exposing the individual to a milder form of a particular virus, so that the body makes antibodies to fight off the virus. Consequently, if the individual is later exposed to the actual virus, the body already has an army of antibodies built up that can fight off this stronger viral attack before it can overtake the body and cause sickness.
With the knowledge gained from the LIAI study, scientists will now be able to more easily figure out the most important viral pieces to focus on in developing a vaccine. "The fact that it requires two components to fight the (virus) pathogen is important to understand," Dr. Crotty said. "So now when we find out which viral pieces are producing a strong response from the B cells, we can cross check that against the viral pieces eliciting a good response from the CD4 T cells. The point at which these virus pieces cross - in other words where the same piece is eliciting a response from both the B cells and CD4 T cells - then we know we have found our best candidate for creating a vaccine."
About LIAI
Founded in 1988, the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology is a nonprofit medical research center dedicated to increasing knowledge and improving human health through studies of the immune system. Scientists at the institute carry out research searching for cures for cancer, allergy and asthma, infectious diseases, and autoimmune diseases such as diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease and arthritis. LIAI's research staff includes more than 100 Ph.Ds.
La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology
"Previously, it was thought that the CD4 T cell could react to any part of the virus, but now we realize it must be specific to the same part as the B cell," he explained. "When you have a hundred different parts, this knowledge makes a big difference. It narrows down the search for the right antigens tremendously."
Scientists use knowledge of which antigens (virus pieces) trigger an antibody attack to develop vaccines. Vaccines work by exposing the individual to a milder form of a particular virus, so that the body makes antibodies to fight off the virus. Consequently, if the individual is later exposed to the actual virus, the body already has an army of antibodies built up that can fight off this stronger viral attack before it can overtake the body and cause sickness.
With the knowledge gained from the LIAI study, scientists will now be able to more easily figure out the most important viral pieces to focus on in developing a vaccine. "The fact that it requires two components to fight the (virus) pathogen is important to understand," Dr. Crotty said. "So now when we find out which viral pieces are producing a strong response from the B cells, we can cross check that against the viral pieces eliciting a good response from the CD4 T cells. The point at which these virus pieces cross - in other words where the same piece is eliciting a response from both the B cells and CD4 T cells - then we know we have found our best candidate for creating a vaccine."
About LIAI
Founded in 1988, the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology is a nonprofit medical research center dedicated to increasing knowledge and improving human health through studies of the immune system. Scientists at the institute carry out research searching for cures for cancer, allergy and asthma, infectious diseases, and autoimmune diseases such as diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease and arthritis. LIAI's research staff includes more than 100 Ph.Ds.
La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology
Vaccine Development Current Events and Vaccine Development News RSSMilestone biodefense publication by Elsevier journal Vaccine
Last week during the 'Vaccines for Biothreats and Emerging and Neglected Diseases Symposium' in Galveston TX, USA, the Elsevier journal Vaccine released a supplement dedicated to vaccines for biodefense.
UM School of Medicine researchers find extreme genetic variability in malaria parasite
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) have charted the extreme genetic differences that occur over time in the most dangerous malaria parasite in the world.
Outfoxing pox: Developing a new class of vaccine candidates
In the annals of medicine, Edward Jenner's 1796 vaccination of a young boy against smallpox, using fluid from cowpox blisters, remains a landmark case. In a new study, Kathryn Sykes, a researcher at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute and her colleagues have taken a fresh look at cowpox.
Frozen assets: NIAID researchers turn to unique resource for clues to norovirus evolution
A search through decades-old frozen infant stool samples has yielded rich dividends for scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
New 'adjuvant' could hold future of vaccine development
Scientists at Oregon State University have developed a new "adjuvant" that could allow the creation of important new vaccines, possibly become a universal vaccine carrier and help medical experts tackle many diseases more effectively.
Unique immunization method provides insights about protective anti-malaria immune response
In this week's New England Journal of Medicine, scientists in Singapore, The Netherlands and France report that they have developed a novel immunization method that will induce fast and effective protection in humans against the life-threatening malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, which infects 350 to 500 million people world-wide and kills over one million people each year.
First genetically-engineered malaria vaccine to enter human trials
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute scientists have created a weakened strain of the malaria parasite that will be used as a live vaccine against the disease.
Vi typhoid vaccine proves highly effective in young children
A new study has found that a currently available yet underused vaccine against typhoid fever is highly effective in young children and protects unvaccinated neighbors of vaccinees.
NIAID set to launch clinical trials to test 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine candidates
Scientists in a network of medical research institutions across the United States are set to begin a series of clinical trials to gather critical data about influenza vaccines, including two candidate H1N1 flu vaccines.
Study offers insights into failed HIV-1 vaccine trial
Following the disbandment of the STEP trial to test the efficacy of the Merck HIV-1 vaccine candidate in 2007, the leading explanation for why the vaccine was ineffective - and may have even increased susceptibility to acquiring the virus - centered on the hypothesis that high levels of baseline Ad5-specific neutralizing antibodies may have increased HIV-1 acquisition among the study subjects who received the vaccine by increasing Ad5-specific CD4+ T-cells that were susceptible to HIV-1 infection.
More Vaccine Development Current Events and Vaccine Development News Articles
 |
Vaccines: From Concept to Clinic: A Guide to the Development and Clinical Testing of Vaccines for Human Use by Lawrence C. Paoletti (Editor), Pamela McInnes (Editor) Designed with academic vaccine researchers in mind, this book presents a road map of how a vaccine develops from an idea in a researcher's imagination, to the lab bench, through preclinical evaluation, and into the clinic for safety and immunogenicity. The result of the editors' own efforts to glean practical information on the steps necessary to manufacture, bottle, and test their vaccines for clinical trials, this book provides answers to researcher questions such as:oHow do I identify antigens that would produce effective vaccines?oCan I produce a clinical lot of vaccine in my laboratory?oHow should a vaccine be bottled?oWhich FDA expectations must I meet?oWhat is an IND application and how do I file it?oWhich CFRs apply to production of a vaccine? |
 |
Molecular and Clinical Aspects of Bacterial Vaccine Development by Dlawer A. A. Ala'Aldeen (Editor), Carlos E. Hormaeche (Editor) Preventable bacterial infections continue to be a major hazard to human health in an age which has experienced a proliferation in readily available vaccines for such diseases. Molecular and Clinical Aspects of Bacterial Vaccine Development examines the latest developments in bacterial vaccinology and the impact they have had on the control of bacterial infections by comprehensively reviewing old, current and future vaccines. Ten of the most globally prevalent bacterial pathogens are covered, providing an indepth analysis of novel strategies for vaccine design and of the state-of-the-art technology available in this field. This timely and authoritative review of vaccine development will be an essential source of information for scientists, clinicians and public health specialists, as well... |
 |
Networks of Innovation: Vaccine Development at Merck, Sharp and Dohme, and Mulford, 1895-1995 by Louis Galambos (Author), Jane Eliot Sewell (Contributor) Networks of Innovation offers a historical perspective on the manner in which private sector organizations have acquired, sustained, and periodically lost the ability to develop, manufacture, and market new serum antitoxins and vaccines. The primary focus is on the H. K. Mulford Company, on Sharp & Dohme, which acquired Mulford in 1929, and on Merck & Co., Inc., which merged with Sharp & Dohme in 1953. By surveying a century of innovation in biologicals, the authors show how the activities of these three commercial enterprises were related to a series of complex, evolving networks of scientific, governmental, and medical institutions in the United States and abroad. |
 |
Handbook of Cancer Vaccines (Cancer Drug Discovery and Development) by Michael A. Morse (Editor), Timothy M. Clay (Editor), H. Kim Lyerly (Editor) An authoritative survey of the scientific background for therapeutic cancer vaccines, the challenges to their development, and their current uses in treating cancer. The authors examine the basic issues that effect all vaccines (such as immune adjuvants and prime-boost strategies), describe the methods for antigen discovery, and review the preclinical development phases for each major vaccine strategy. They also spell out the clinical results for cancer vaccines now beginning to be used in the treatment of many common cancers. |
 |
AIDS Vaccine Development: Challenges and Opportunities by Wayne C. Koff (Editor), Patricia Kahn (Editor), Ian D. Gust (Editor) |
 |
Vaccines for the 21st Century: A Tool for Decisionmaking by Committee to Study Priorities for Vaccine Development (Author), Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (Author), Institute of Medicine (Author), Kathleen R. Stratton (Editor), Jane S. Durch (Editor), Robert S. Lawrence (Editor) (Institute of Medicine) A decision-maker's guide to setting priorities for vaccine development over the coming decade, offering an analytic framework and quantitative model for evaluation of disease conditions. Also provides a way to compare different forms of illness and set vaccine priorities without the risk of human suffering or casualty. DNLM: Vaccines. |
 |
Vaccine Research and Development (Vaccine Research and Developments) by Koff (Author) Serving as a complementary series to AIDS Research Reviews - edited by Drs. Wayne C. Koff, Flossie Wong-Staal, and Ronald C. Kennedy (Marcel Dekker, Inc.) - this new series reviews significant advances in immunization research and addresses scientific and public policy challenges for moving candidate vaccines from the laboratory to the population.;Exploring recent progress in immunology, vaccine development and improvement, and clinical trials, Vaccine Research and Developments: analyzes the capacity of lipophilic components to chemically modify peptide and protein antigens and augment their immunogenicity; discusses the potential of noninfectious packaging mutants to serve as prototype vaccines; provides a novel presentation system for peptide vaccines through the multiple antigen... |
|
AIDS vaccine development: challenges and opportunities.(Book review): An article from: Emerging Infectious Diseases by Robert T. Chen (Author) This digital document is an article from Emerging Infectious Diseases, published by Thomson Gale on November 1, 2007. The length of the article is 566 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser. Citation Details Title: AIDS vaccine development: challenges and opportunities.(Book review) Author: Robert T. Chen Publication: Emerging Infectious Diseases (Magazine/Journal) Date: November 1, 2007 Publisher: Thomson Gale Volume: 13 Issue: 11 Page: 1802(1) Article Type: Book review Distributed by Thomson... | |
 |
The Search for an AIDS Vaccine: Ethical Issues in the Development and Testing of a Preventive HIV Vaccine (Medical Ethics) by Christine Grady (Author) National Institute of Nursing Research. Single-author review of the current state of HIV vaccine research from the perspective of the ethical aspects of human subject research. |
|
New approaches to vaccine development: Proceedings of a meeting by Schwabe (Publisher) |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |