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Gamma-ray Inactivated Influenza A Virus Vaccine For Cross-protective T Cell Immunity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$239,963.00
Summary
Although there are new antiviral drugs that appear to be effective against influenza virus, the far more costeffective and efficient means to combat an influenza pandemic would be by vaccination. Current influenza vaccines employ virus preparations that are inactivated by chemical treatment. The inactivated vaccines, which function mostly by inducing antibody against the virus, have to be reformulated almost every year to take account of the changing virus because the antibodies recognize the vi ....Although there are new antiviral drugs that appear to be effective against influenza virus, the far more costeffective and efficient means to combat an influenza pandemic would be by vaccination. Current influenza vaccines employ virus preparations that are inactivated by chemical treatment. The inactivated vaccines, which function mostly by inducing antibody against the virus, have to be reformulated almost every year to take account of the changing virus because the antibodies recognize the viral surface which is prone to mutation. Accordingly, in terms of the threatening H5N1 avian influenza pandemic, it is not known if an inactivated vaccine based on the circulating H5N1 strain will be effective if the virus mutates to adapt to efficient growth and spread in the human population. In contrast to the antibody response against influenza virus, the cytotoxic T cell response is broadly crossreactive between heterologous influenza virus strains. Live virus infection efficiently induces cytotoxic T cell immunity which plays an important role in reducing disease severity and mortality following infection with a second, heterologous influenza virus, although infection per se is not prevented. Accordingly, vaccination strategies that elicit cytotoxic T cell memory should be given urgent consideration in the preparation against an influenza pandemic. We have found that the use of gamma-irradiation (in contrast to chemical treatment) for the preparation of inactivated experimental vaccines against influenza and other viruses does not destroy the ability of the vaccines to elicit cytotoxic T cell immunity. The gamma-ray inactivated vaccines conferred protection against lethal challenge with heterologous influenza virus strains in mice. This proposal is aimed at extending this novel finding to avian influenza viruses and to uncover the mechanisms involved in the cytotoxic T cell immunogenicity of gamma-ray inactivated vaccines.Read moreRead less
Loss of insulin-producing beta cells leads to type 1 diabetes and rejection of allogeneic islet transplants. The aim of this program is to discover ways of protecting beta cells from damage. We will do this by investigating whether blocking crucial regulators of cell death can protect mouse and human beta cells from destruction in vitro and in vivo. In doing so, we aim to prevent diabetes in mice and potentially improve the survival of islet grafts after transplantation.
In type 1 diabetes the body becomes deficient in insulin production from pancreatic b cells because the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys b cells as if they were an invading infection. Recurrence of autoimmune destruction of b cells also occurs following transplantation of whole pancreas or islet cells and may occur in the future when other engineered insulin producing cells are transplanted. The focus of this program is to better understand how b cells are killed by the immune syste ....In type 1 diabetes the body becomes deficient in insulin production from pancreatic b cells because the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys b cells as if they were an invading infection. Recurrence of autoimmune destruction of b cells also occurs following transplantation of whole pancreas or islet cells and may occur in the future when other engineered insulin producing cells are transplanted. The focus of this program is to better understand how b cells are killed by the immune system and to test ways of protecting beta cells from these mechanisms. Because of the inaccessibility of the pancreas to study (particularly biopsy) in humans with diabetes, much of the proposed work will be carried out in b cells derived from non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice, the best available mouse model of type 1 diabetes. It is clear from the literature that a molecule called perforin found in cytoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) is a major, if not the major, mechanism the immune system uses against b cells. For this reason we will try to better understand the interaction between b cells and perforin and ultimately design ways of them from perforin-mediated cell death. It is equally clear that there are other mechanisms besides perforin that can cause b cell death and the program will also address discovery of these mechanisms and new ways to block them. Beta cells in NOD mice will be protected from perforin or other mechanisms by the addition of protective genes or removal of harmful genes using transgenic knockout technology. Addition or removal of genes involved in cell death can be done systematically and each protocol tested using NOD mouse model. The process of cell death that b cell undergo in type 1 diabetes is called apoptosis. Apoptosis is a general mechanism by which cells of all types die. Experts in the biology of apoptosis and perforin are important members of the program, providing the opportunity to translate the latest advances in cell death research to diabetes. This research addresses several of the specific research areas of interest to JDRF. It focuses on the prevention of b cell death in individuals with type 1 diabetes receiving islet transplants. It may be applicable in the future to protection of stem or precursor cells that have been differentiated into b cells or even to devising strategies to prevent the development of diabetes.Read moreRead less
Self Adjuvanting CTL-Based Influenza Vaccines For Human Use
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$214,842.00
Summary
This project will generate novel vaccines that elicit cell-mediated immunity against influenza infection. The vaccines are totally synthetic and therefore not constrained by the limitations in manufacturing which currently confront egg-grown vaccines. These vaccines induce very strong immune responses because they target dendritic cells which are pivotal for induction of all immune responses. This targeting capability is due to a simple lipid molecule incorporated into the vaccine which is recog ....This project will generate novel vaccines that elicit cell-mediated immunity against influenza infection. The vaccines are totally synthetic and therefore not constrained by the limitations in manufacturing which currently confront egg-grown vaccines. These vaccines induce very strong immune responses because they target dendritic cells which are pivotal for induction of all immune responses. This targeting capability is due to a simple lipid molecule incorporated into the vaccine which is recognised by specific receptors on the surface of dendritic cells and also causes their maturation, a step which is essential for recognition by the immune system of potential pathogens. The technology to design and assemble these new vaccines is already.Read moreRead less