Human Cytomegalovirus Encoded Control Of The Latent Phase Of Infection
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$639,871.00
Summary
Human cytomegalovirus has the ability to hide in the body of a person throughout their life time without it making them ill but the virus can awaken (reactivate) from this latent state and produce new virus. In immunosuppressed people such as transplant patients this reactivation causes significant problems, even death, yet this latency remains poorly understood. This project will help us to understand how the virus can hide successfully from the immune system in a latent form in the human host.
Prophylactic Vaccine To Prevent Cytomegalovirus Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$436,360.00
Summary
This project is aiming to develop a prophylactic vaccine against a common herpesvirus which has been linked to the birth defects in new born babies and significant morbidity and mortality in transplant patients. In this project we are testing a novel nanoparticle-based vaccine formulation which stimulates the immune system with single injection and the immunity induced is sustained for long-term.
Multiple Cytomegalovirus Infections: Biological And Evolutionary Significance.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$555,776.00
Summary
This project involves the study of cytomegalovirus (CMV) a common viral infection of humans which normally cause little disease. However in individuals whose immune system is suppressed (such as AIDS patients or transplant recipients), or in infection of pregnant women, CMV can cause serious or life-threatening disease in the patient or foetus. An interesting feature of CMV diseases in such patients is that enhanced viral growth and more severe disease is frequently associated with the presence ....This project involves the study of cytomegalovirus (CMV) a common viral infection of humans which normally cause little disease. However in individuals whose immune system is suppressed (such as AIDS patients or transplant recipients), or in infection of pregnant women, CMV can cause serious or life-threatening disease in the patient or foetus. An interesting feature of CMV diseases in such patients is that enhanced viral growth and more severe disease is frequently associated with the presence of multiple strains of CMV in the patient. We suggest that mixed CMV infections provide a survival advantage to the virus, with different strains within the mixed infection assisting the growth of other strains. This would result in increased virus growth overall, and enhanced disease. To study the mechanisms by which multiple infections with different CMV strains may affect both the virus and the host, experiments will be performed using an animal model of CMV, murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV). We will examine the effect of the presence of multiple strains of virus on virus growth and distribution within the infected host. We will also determine if functional MCMV strains are capable of assisting non-functional strains to survive within the host. These studies are relevant to the design of a CMV vaccine, and will be valuable in revealing the ways in which viruses can co-operate within an infection.Read moreRead less