Emergence of highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern that are resistant to current therapeutic antibodies highlights the need for continuing discovery of broadly reactive antibodies.
There are five known Ebolavirus species: Ebola virus (Zaire ebolavirus); Sudan virus (Sudan ebolavirus or SUDV); Taï Forest virus (Taï Forest ebolavirus, formerly Cote d'Ivoire ebolavirus); Bundibugyo virus (Bundibugyo ebolavirus); and Reston virus (Reston ebolavirus). Last year an ebolavirus outbreak resulted in 164 cases and 55 deaths. While there is an FDA-approved Ebola virus vaccine authorized for use against Ebola virus infections, ERVEBO, this vaccine is not effective against SUDV due to the significant variation between Ebola virus and SUDV.
This technology includes a novel advancement in developing vaccines targeting norovirus, tailored specifically for a more robust and effective response. It centers around an improved version of Virus-Like Particles (VLPs) uniquely engineered for greater stability and efficacy. These enhanced VLPs are designed to remain intact even when faced with the body's immune responses, overcoming a key limitation of previous vaccine designs.
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a deadly hemorrhagic fever having a high mortality rate. The disease results from infection of an individual by Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV), which is a tick-borne bunyavirus endemic in Southern and Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Geographically, case distribution is consistent with the range of Hyalomma genus ticks, the main reservoir of CCHFV, and is likely to expand due to climate change. Humans may be infected from tick bites, through contact with infected animals or animal tissue.
Chemotherapy resistance in a wide array of cancers is often associated with enhanced glucose uptake and dysregulation of the insulin signaling pathway. Therapeutics capable of inhibiting insulin signaling would be valuable as a stand-alone treatment and for sensitizing resistant tumors to standard chemotherapy regiments. Researchers at NCI’s Genitourinary Malignancies Branch have synthesized and developed a series of Englerin-A ana
Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have developed a new method of improving the efficacy of vaccines in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) by activating Ras. This method can be used to develop more efficacious vaccine compositions by activating Ras before, during, or after vaccination. Additionally, the researchers discovered that modulation of the Ras pathways could be a predictive biomarker of protection against HIV.
Clinically known as Neuronal Ceroid-Lipofuscinoses (NCL), Batten disease, is a rare neuron killing disease and one of the lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs). It is associated with a mutation or lack of palmitoyl-protein thioesterase-1 (PPT1) gene. It manifests very early in a child's life causing absence of brain activity as early as 4 years of age.
Researchers at the Vaccine Research Center (“VRC”) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (“NAID”) continue to pursue a safe and effective HIV-1 vaccine to combat the HIV-1/AIDS pandemic.
This technology includes a vaccine for lowering plasma triglycerides by inducing the formation of autoantibodies against either ANGPTL3 or ANGPTL4, which are inhibitors of Lipoprotein Lipase. This was done by conjugating synthetic peptides based on ANGPTL3 or ANGPTL4 to virus- like particles (VLPS). Injection of the vaccine in animal models was shown to induce the autoantibody against the target and to lower plasma triglycerides.