scholarly journals Recent Advances in Zika Virus Vaccines

Viruses ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Himanshu Garg ◽  
Tugba Mehmetoglu-Gurbuz ◽  
Anjali Joshi
Keyword(s):  
Zika Virus ◽  
Viral Vectors ◽  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Target Population ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Vaccine Candidates ◽  
Diagnostic Assays ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Short Period

The recent outbreaks of Zika virus (ZIKV) infections and associated microcephaly in newborns has resulted in an unprecedented effort by researchers to target this virus. Significant advances have been made in developing vaccine candidates, treatment strategies and diagnostic assays in a relatively short period of time. Being a preventable disease, the first line of defense against ZIKV would be to vaccinate the highly susceptible target population, especially pregnant women. Along those lines, several vaccine candidates including purified inactivated virus (PIV), live attenuated virus (LAV), virus like particles (VLP), DNA, modified RNA, viral vectors and subunit vaccines have been in the pipeline with several advancing to clinical trials. As the primary objective of Zika vaccination is the prevention of vertical transmission of the virus to the unborn fetus, the safety and efficacy requirements for this vaccine remain unique when compared to other diseases. This review will discuss these recent advances in the field of Zika vaccine development.

scholarly journals Novel Concepts for HIV Vaccine Vector Design

mSphere ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Quazim A. Alayo ◽  
Nicholas M. Provine ◽  
Pablo Penaloza-MacMaster
Keyword(s):  
Immune Responses ◽  
Viral Vectors ◽  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Viral Vector ◽  
Intracellular Pathogens ◽  
Adaptive Immune Responses ◽  
Adaptive Immune ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Robust Adaptive ◽  
Selection Of

ABSTRACT The unprecedented challenges of developing effective vaccines against intracellular pathogens such as HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis have resulted in more rational approaches to vaccine development. Apart from the recent advances in the design and selection of improved epitopes and adjuvants, there are also ongoing efforts to optimize delivery platforms. The unprecedented challenges of developing effective vaccines against intracellular pathogens such as HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis have resulted in more rational approaches to vaccine development. Apart from the recent advances in the design and selection of improved epitopes and adjuvants, there are also ongoing efforts to optimize delivery platforms. Viral vectors are the best-characterized delivery tools because of their intrinsic adjuvant capability, unique cellular tropism, and ability to trigger robust adaptive immune responses. However, a known limitation of viral vectors is preexisting immunity, and ongoing efforts are aimed at developing novel vector platforms with lower seroprevalence. It is also becoming increasingly clear that different vectors, even those derived from phylogenetically similar viruses, can elicit substantially distinct immune responses, in terms of quantity, quality, and location, which can ultimately affect immune protection. This review provides a summary of the status of viral vector development for HIV vaccines, with a particular focus on novel viral vectors and the types of adaptive immune responses that they induce.

scholarly journals Developmental Landscape of Potential Vaccine Candidates Based on Viral Vector for Prophylaxis of COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajashri Bezbaruah ◽  
Pobitra Borah ◽  
Bibhuti Bhushan Kakoti ◽  
Nizar A. Al-Shar’I ◽  
Balakumar Chandrasekaran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Viral Vectors ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Viral Vector ◽  
World Health ◽  
Prolonged Incubation ◽  
Vaccine Candidates ◽  
Vector Vaccine ◽  
Dna And Rna ◽  
Viral Vector Vaccine

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2, arose at the end of 2019 as a zoonotic virus, which is the causative agent of the novel coronavirus outbreak COVID-19. Without any clear indications of abatement, the disease has become a major healthcare threat across the globe, owing to prolonged incubation period, high prevalence, and absence of existing drugs or vaccines. Development of COVID-19 vaccine is being considered as the most efficient strategy to curtail the ongoing pandemic. Following publication of genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2, globally extensive research and development work has been in progress to develop a vaccine against the disease. The use of genetic engineering, recombinant technologies, and other computational tools has led to the expansion of several promising vaccine candidates. The range of technology platforms being evaluated, including virus-like particles, peptides, nucleic acid (DNA and RNA), recombinant proteins, inactivated virus, live attenuated viruses, and viral vectors (replicating and non-replicating) approaches, are striking features of the vaccine development strategies. Viral vectors, the next-generation vaccine platforms, provide a convenient method for delivering vaccine antigens into the host cell to induce antigenic proteins which can be tailored to arouse an assortment of immune responses, as evident from the success of smallpox vaccine and Ervebo vaccine against Ebola virus. As per the World Health Organization, till January 22, 2021, 14 viral vector vaccine candidates are under clinical development including 10 nonreplicating and four replicating types. Moreover, another 39 candidates based on viral vector platform are under preclinical evaluation. This review will outline the current developmental landscape and discuss issues that remain critical to the success or failure of viral vector vaccine candidates against COVID-19.

scholarly journals Perspectives on RNA Vaccine Candidates for COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pobitra Borah ◽  
Pran Kishore Deb ◽  
Nizar A. Al-Shar’i ◽  
Lina A. Dahabiyeh ◽  
Katharigatta N. Venugopala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Viral Vectors ◽  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Public Health Care ◽  
World Health ◽  
Genetic Sequencing ◽  
Vaccine Candidates ◽  
Clinical Investigations ◽  
Current Outbreak ◽  
Health Organization

With the current outbreak caused by SARS-CoV-2, vaccination is acclaimed as a public health care priority. Rapid genetic sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 has triggered the scientific community to search for effective vaccines. Collaborative approaches from research institutes and biotech companies have acknowledged the use of viral proteins as potential vaccine candidates against COVID-19. Nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) vaccines are considered the next generation vaccines as they can be rapidly designed to encode any desirable viral sequence including the highly conserved antigen sequences. RNA vaccines being less prone to host genome integration (cons of DNA vaccines) and anti-vector immunity (a compromising factor of viral vectors) offer great potential as front-runners for universal COVID-19 vaccine. The proof of concept for RNA-based vaccines has already been proven in humans, and the prospects for commercialization are very encouraging as well. With the emergence of COVID-19, mRNA-1273, an mRNA vaccine developed by Moderna, Inc. was the first to enter human trials, with the first volunteer receiving the dose within 10 weeks after SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequencing. The recent interest in mRNA vaccines has been fueled by the state of the art technologies that enhance mRNA stability and improve vaccine delivery. Interestingly, as per the “Draft landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccines” published by the World Health Organization (WHO) on December 29, 2020, seven potential RNA based COVID-19 vaccines are in different stages of clinical trials; of them, two candidates already received emergency use authorization, and another 22 potential candidates are undergoing pre-clinical investigations. This review will shed light on the rationality of RNA as a platform for vaccine development against COVID-19, highlighting the possible pros and cons, lessons learned from the past, and the future prospects.

Indo–Swiss symposium on advances in pharmacogenomic strategies for implementation of personalized medicine

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suja Xaviar ◽  
Shathish Kumar ◽  
Kesavan Ramasamy ◽  
Uppugunduri S Chakradhara Rao
Keyword(s):  
Personalized Medicine ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Young Researchers

The Indo–Swiss symposium on advances in pharmacogenomic strategies for implementation of personalized medicine was conducted as a part of the JIPMER Integrated Pharmacogenomics Program (JIPP), held in Puducherry, India on 23 November 2019. The symposium focused on the growing contribution of pharmacogenomic information in designing treatment strategies and promoting better approaches to personalized medicine. The primary objective of this symposium was to bridge gaps in understanding the basics and recent advances in the field of pharmacogenomics. This symposium sought to promote interaction between the Indian and Swiss researchers to initiate future collaborative research projects. This symposium also served as a platform for young researchers to present their research findings as posters to the audience.

scholarly journals Inter-Lineage Variation of Lassa Virus Glycoprotein Epitopes: A Challenge to Lassa Virus Vaccine Development

Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 386
Author(s):  
Francis Ifedayo Ibukun
Keyword(s):  
B Cell ◽  
Viral Vectors ◽  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Lassa Virus ◽  
High Genetic Diversity ◽  
Vaccine Candidates ◽  
Multiple Alignments ◽  
Considerable Morbidity ◽  
Lineage Iv ◽  
Homologous Challenge

Lassa virus (LASV), which causes considerable morbidity and mortality annually, has a high genetic diversity across West Africa. LASV glycoprotein (GP) expresses this diversity, but most LASV vaccine candidates utilize only the Lineage IV LASV Josiah strain GP antigen as an immunogen and homologous challenge with Lineage IV LASV. In addition to the sequence variation amongst the LASV lineages, these lineages are also distinguished in their presentations. Inter-lineage variations within previously mapped B-cell and T-cell LASV GP epitopes and the breadth of protection in LASV vaccine/challenge studies were examined critically. Multiple alignments of the GP primary sequence of strains from each LASV lineage showed that LASV GP has diverging degrees of amino acid conservation within known epitopes among LASV lineages. Conformational B-cell epitopes spanning different sites in GP subunits were less impacted by LASV diversity. LASV GP diversity should influence the approach used for LASV vaccine design. Expression of LASV GP on viral vectors, especially in its prefusion configuration, has shown potential for protective LASV vaccines that can overcome LASV diversity. Advanced vaccine candidates should demonstrate efficacy against all LASV lineages for evidence of a pan-LASV vaccine.

scholarly journals Self-Replicating RNA Viruses for Vaccine Development Against Infectious Diseases and Cancer

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Lundstrom
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
Measles Virus ◽  
Viral Vectors ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Rna Viruses ◽  
Vaccine Candidates ◽  
Vector Systems

Alphaviruses, flaviviruses, measles viruses and rhabdoviruses are enveloped single-stranded RNA viruses, which have been engineered as expression vector systems for recombinant protein expression and vaccine development. Due to the presence of non-structural genes encoding the replicase complex, a 200,000-fold amplification of viral RNA occurs in the cytoplasm of infected cells providing extreme transgene expression levels, which is why they are named self-replicating RNA viruses. Expression of surface proteins of pathogens causing infectious disease and tumor antigens provide the basis for vaccine development against infectious diseases and cancer. The self-replicating RNA viral vectors can be administered as replicon RNA, recombinant viral particles, or layered DNA/RNA replicons. Self-replicating RNA viral vectors have been applied for vaccine development against influenza virus, HIV, hepatitis B virus, human papilloma virus, Ebola virus and recently coronaviruses, especially SARS-CoV-2 the causative agent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Measles virus and rhabdovirus vector-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidates have been subjected to clinical trials. Moreover, RNA vaccine candidates based on self-amplifying alphaviruses have also been evaluated in clinical settings. Various cancers such as brain, breast, lung, ovarian, prostate cancer and melanoma have also been targeted for vaccine development. Robust immune responses and protection have been demonstrated in animal models. Clinical trials have shown good safety and target-specific immune responses. Ervebo, the VSV-based vaccine against Ebola virus disease has been approved for human use.

scholarly journals Rotavirus vaccines: an overview.

1996 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 423-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Midthun ◽  
A Z Kapikian
Keyword(s):  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Target Population ◽  
The United States ◽  
Severe Illness ◽  
Rotavirus Vaccine ◽  
Vaccine Candidates ◽  
Multivalent Vaccine ◽  
Rotavirus Vaccines ◽  
Young Infants ◽  
Human Rotavirus

Rotavirus vaccine development has focused on the delivery of live attenuated rotavirus strains by the oral route. The initial "Jennerian" approach involving bovine (RIT4237, WC3) or rhesus (RRV) rotavirus vaccine candidates showed that these vaccines were safe, well tolerated, and immunogenic but induced highly variable rates of protection against rotavirus diarrhea. The goal of a rotavirus vaccine is to prevent severe illness that can lead to dehydration in infants and young children in both developed and developing countries. These studies led to the concept that a multivalent vaccine that represented each of the four epidemiologically important VP7 serotypes might be necessary to induce protection in young infants, the target population for vaccination. Human-animal rotavirus reassortants whose gene encoding VP7 was derived from their human rotavirus parent but whose remaining genes were derived from the animal rotavirus parent were developed as vaccine candidates. The greatest experience with a multivalent vaccine to date has been gained with the quadrivalent preparation containing RRV (VP7 serotype 3) and human-RRV reassortants of VP7 serotype 1, 2, and 4 specificity. Preliminary efficacy trial results in the United States have been promising, whereas a study in Peru has shown only limited protection. Human-bovine reassortant vaccines, including a candidate that contains the VP4 gene of a human rotavirus (VP4 serotype 1A), are also being studied.

scholarly journals Stages in COVID-19 vaccine development: The Nemesis, the Hubris and the Elpis

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-135
Author(s):  
Nikhra Vinod
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Viral Vectors ◽  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
Phase Iii ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Effective Vaccine ◽  
Vaccine Candidates ◽  
Phase Iii Clinical Trials ◽  
And Control

The nemesis: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: Leaving in its wake millions of infections, accompanied by an immense magnitude of morbidity and multitude of mortality, and an unfathomable economic toll, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a global calamity. An effective and safe COVID-19 vaccine is urgently needed to prevent the disease, thwart the complications and avert deaths resulting from unrestrained transmission of the infection. The hubris: Vaccine development: While most of the platforms of vaccine candidates have focused on the spike (S) protein and its variants as the primary antigen of COVID-19 infection, various techniques involved include nucleic acid technologies (RNA and DNA), non-replicating viral vectors, peptides, recombinant proteins, live attenuated and inactivated viruses. There are novel vaccine technologies being developed using next-generation strategies for precision and flexibility for antigen manipulation relating to SARS-CoV-2 infection mechanisms. The elpis: Updates and prospects: There were nine different technology platforms under research and development to create an effective vaccine against COVID 19. Although there are no licensed vaccines against COVID-19 yet, there are various potential vaccine candidates under development and advanced clinical trials. Out of them, one having undergone phase III clinical trials, has become available in some countries for use among the high-risk groups following emergency use authorization. Other COVID-19 vaccines may soon follow the suit. Conclusion: Hopes and concerns: The hope of benefiting from the vaccine to the extent that it may be the only way to tide over and control the COVID-19 pandemic, is accompanied by the likely fear of adverse effects and opposition in public for COVID-19 vaccination, including the vaccine hesitancy. Further, there is concern among scientific circles that vaccine may have opposite of the desired effect by causing antibody-dependent disease enhancement.

scholarly journals Single dose of chimeric dengue-2/Zika vaccine candidate protects mice and non-human primates against Zika virus

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Whitney R. Baldwin ◽  
Holli A. Giebler ◽  
Janae L. Stovall ◽  
Ginger Young ◽  
Kelly J. Bohning ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zika Virus ◽  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Vero Cells ◽  
Vaccine Virus ◽  
Live Attenuated Vaccine ◽  
Vaccine Candidates ◽  
Virus Serotype ◽  
Flavivirus Vaccine ◽  
Deficient Mice

AbstractThe development of a safe and effective Zika virus (ZIKV) vaccine has become a global health priority since the widespread epidemic in 2015-2016. Based on previous experience in using the well-characterized and clinically proven dengue virus serotype-2 (DENV-2) PDK-53 vaccine backbone for live-attenuated chimeric flavivirus vaccine development, we developed chimeric DENV-2/ZIKV vaccine candidates optimized for growth and genetic stability in Vero cells. These vaccine candidates retain all previously characterized attenuation phenotypes of the PDK-53 vaccine virus, including attenuation of neurovirulence for 1-day-old CD-1 mice, absence of virulence in interferon receptor-deficient mice, and lack of transmissibility in the main mosquito vectors. A single DENV-2/ZIKV dose provides protection against ZIKV challenge in mice and rhesus macaques. Overall, these data indicate that the ZIKV live-attenuated vaccine candidates are safe, immunogenic and effective at preventing ZIKV infection in multiple animal models, warranting continued development.

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