The vaccine is dead--long live the vaccine

An important chapter in the search for a vaccine against malaria, that of the anti-Plasmodium falciparum vaccine candidate SPf66, has been effectively closed. A Cochrane review of ten major efficacy trials in endemic areas concluded it 'has little or no effect on preventing malaria'. This provides an appropriate opportunity to reflect on the perspectives for current and future vaccine formulations against Plasmodium.     

Rabies vaccine

Rabies vaccines produced by means of molecular biology are described. Recombinant vaccines employing either viruses as vectors (vaccinia, adenovirus, poxvirus, baculovirus, plant viruses) or a plasmid vector carrying the rabies virus glycoprotein gene are discussed. Synthetic peptide technology directed to rabies vaccine production is also presented.     

疟疾疫苗

疟疾是世界上分布和流行最广的寄生虫性疾病之一,世界上有20亿人口生活在疫区,每年全球大约有5亿人口患病,其中50％是由恶性疟原虫引起的每年死于疟疾的人口约100万－300万,尽管疟原虫的生物学研究仍不甚明晰,疟疾疫苗的研究在最近的30年中仍取得了明显的成果,针对疟原虫的生活各周期的主要保护性抗原,科研人员已研制了一系列的疟疾侯选疫苗,如CSP疟疾疫苗,MSP1疟疾疫苗,pfs25疟疾疫苗和SPf66多期多抗原合成疟疾疫苗等。目前疟疾疫苗主要历经减毒疫苗,亚单位疫苗和DNA疫苗三种形式,因为在疟原虫生活周期不同阶段存在着不同的候选抗原,依此又可将疟疾候选疫苗按其起作用时期分为红细胞前期疫苗,红细胞内期疫苗,配子期疫苗和多期多抗原疫苗,但到目前为止,仍未开发出十分理想的疟疾疫苗,由于疟原虫生活史复杂,抗原多且免疫原性弱,单独应用疟疾疫苗难以取得很好的预防效果,所以必须配合以佐剂来增强其免疫效果,然而不同的佐剂对不同疟疾候选疫苗的免疫增强效果有着明显差异,因此佐剂的选择是疫苗成功与否的关键因素之一,另外,宿主的遗传性限制也影响着疫苗的保护效果。     

精准设计疫苗

疫苗的出现极大降低了感染性疾病的发病率和死亡率,显著保障了全球公共健康。本文系统回顾了疫苗的发展史,分析归纳了各类型疫苗的优缺点,并介绍了本实验室构建的一类具有广谱保护性的新型疫苗--精准设计疫苗。精准设计疫苗是一类应用高通量技术和反向遗传学技术,定向筛选病原体全基因组内特异位点、区域,进而精准设计的重组疫苗。基于个体基因、环境、生活方式等特征的精准医学引领了新一轮的医疗变革,而这种基于病原体或异常细胞的特定基因、蛋白、通路的精准设计疫苗则为疫苗的研发提供了全新的技术和思路,将推动疫苗学进入新时代。     

Aerosolized adenovirus-vectored vaccine as an alternative vaccine delivery method

Conventional parenteral injection of vaccines is limited in its ability to induce locally-produced immune responses in the respiratory tract, and has logistical disadvantages in widespread vaccine administration. Recent studies suggest that intranasal delivery or vaccination in the respiratory tract with recombinant viral vectors can enhance immunogenicity and protection against respiratory diseases such as influenza and tuberculosis, and can offer more broad-based generalized protection by eliciting durable mucosal immune responses. Controlled aerosolization is a method to minimize vaccine particle size and ensure delivery to the lower respiratory tract. Here, we characterize the dynamics of aerosolization and show the effects of vaccine concentration on particle size, vector viability, and the actual delivered dose of an aerosolized adenoviral vector. In addition, we demonstrate that aerosol delivery of a recombinant adenoviral vaccine encoding H1N1 hemagglutinin is immunogenic and protects ferrets against homologous viral challenge. Overall, aerosol delivery offers comparable protection to intramuscular injection, and represents an attractive vaccine delivery method for broad-based immunization campaigns.     

Glutaraldehyde inactivated pertussis vaccine: a less histamine sensitizing vaccine

The effects of different inactivating agents on the biological activity of the histamine sensitization factor of Bordetella pertussis toxin were examined. The agents were used for inactivation in the preparation of whole cell pertussis suspension. The histamine sensitizing activity was reduced to 36.9-13.3% by treatment with glutaraldehyde, to about 50% by treatment with formaldehyde and by the acetone-II treatment, relative to the reduction by heat treatment. Treatment with thimerosal and the acetone-I treatment did not reduce the histamine sensitizing activity as the 50% histamine sensitizing doses of the heat inactivated pertussis preparation, the thimerosal inactivated pertussis preparation and the acetone-I treated pertussis preparation were very similar. Glutaraldehyde has thus been found to be a better inactivating agent for the preparation of a safe pertussis suspension as it considerably reduced the histamine sensitizing activity of pertussis toxin.