Developing a novel HIV vaccine: DNA and recombinant proteins

Researchers have developed a novel vaccine consisting of DNA and recombinant proteins. Proteins composed of a portion of an HIV protein and another unrelated protein. This vaccine was tested in monkeys and was shown to induce antibodies similar to those associated with protection from HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Researchers first identified a part of the virus, which, when bound to antibodies, results in the destruction of the virus and of virus-infected cells & designed a vaccine that would induce these types of antibodies. This approach to vaccine design is called "reverse vaccinology." The target identified by the researchers on the virus is called the V1V2 loop of the gp120 envelope protein. In studies of monkeys vaccinated with gp120 DNA and a combination of three novel recombinant proteins carrying the V1V2 region, antibodies were induced that display many different antiviral functions. These antibodies were of the type that had been associated with a reduced rate of HIV infection in previous human clinical trials. Researchers from several institutions in the United States, has been working for more than a decade on a novel approach to developing a vaccine against HIV/AIDS. The vaccine that was developed is safe, in that it contains nothing that is infectious to the individual vaccinated. In the study now, being published that this novel vaccine induces the desired antibodies in monkeys, which suggests strongly those similar protective antibodies can be induced in humans and may play an important role in preventing HIV infection. Showing that a vaccine will induce antibodies in monkeys is important since it suggests that humans will react similarly. The successful production of antibodies in monkeys with the novel vaccine studied in this report indicates that the vaccine should move forward to first-in-human studies to determine if it is as safe, well-tolerated, and immunogenic as it was in monkeys.

Return to top

Antibiotics can inhibit skin lymphoma

Many patients with the rare lymphoma cancer, CTCL (Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma), contract staphylococcal infections in the skin. CTCL is a cancer in the so-called T-cells of the immune system, which shows in the skin. Therefore, the patient's immune system is weakened and the skin is less resistant to bacteria. In a new study, researchers shown that aggressive treatment with antibiotics not only inhibits the staphylococcal bacteria, but also the cancer cells. The number of cancer cells is reduced and the cancer is significantly diminished for a period of time in patients with severe skin inflammation. During a staphylococcal infection, the healthy immune cells in the body are working at full throttle. They produce growth substances called cytokines, which are used to get the immune system up and running. The cancer cells latch onto the growth substances, using them to accelerate their own growth. The research results show for the first time that the antibiotic treatment can slow down this process. The finding is the result of many years' research where the researchers have conducted molecular studies and laboratory tests, taken tissue samples from skin and blood and conducted clinical studies of carefully selected patients. It is still difficult to say whether the new knowledge may be transferred to other types of cancer. For the researchers at the LEO Foundation Skin Immunology Research Center, the next step is to initially look more closely at the link between cancer and bacteria.

Return to top

Cell types affected in brains of multiple sclerosis patients pinpointed

Scientists have discovered that a specific brain cell known as a 'projection neuron' has a central role to play in the brain changes seen in multiple sclerosis (MS). The research, published today in Nature, shows that projection neurons are damaged by the body's own immune cells, and that this damage could underpin the brain shrinkage and cognitive changes associated with MS. These new findings provide a platform for specific new MS therapies that target damaged brain cells to be developed. Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the brain and the spinal cord that affects over two million people worldwide. The potential symptoms of MS are wide ranging and can include problems with vision, movement and cognitive abilities. Previous research has shown that a brain region called the cortex shrinks over time in MS patients, known as cortical atrophy. The processes driving this cortical shrinkage have, until now, been unclear. In a new study researchers used post-mortem human brain samples from MS patients to study a wide range of cell types implicated in the disease, and compared their findings to brain samples donated from people that did not have MS. In healthy people, these projection neurons are involved in communicating information between different areas of the brain. It is therefore possible that the damage to these cells can affect cognitive abilities in MS patients. Moreover, the loss of this particular cell types helps explain why brains of MS patients shrink over time -- the more cells that are damaged and lost, the less space the brain takes up. The researchers also showed that immune cells in the brains of MS patients were targeting projection neurons and causing cell stress and damage. Lead researcher said that these new techniques have wide applicability in the understanding of human neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders and are providing new insight into not only MS, but also autism spectrum disorder.

Return to top

Products of SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Return to top