IMMUNOGENICITY AND EFFICACY OF A NOVEL CANDIDATE VACCINE FOR AIDS

该子项目是利用该技术的众多研究子项目之一 资源由 NIH/NCRR 资助的中心拨款提供。子项目及 研究者 (PI) 可能已从 NIH 的另一个来源获得主要资金， 因此可以在其他 CRISP 条目中表示。列出的机构是 对于中心来说，它不一定是研究者的机构。 主要目的是确定一种新型艾滋病候选疫苗在猕猴模型中的免疫原性和功效。该疫苗采用新型合成多肽缀合物 (MPC) 系统配制而成，该系统代表 HIV 的主要蛋白质之一，称为 Tat（转录反式激活剂）。 Tat蛋白在病毒复制中具有重要功能。因此，我们计划给猴子接种合成的 MPC Tat 疫苗，以刺激猴子的免疫系统产生病毒特异性蛋白（抗体）和白细胞（CD4 和 CD8 T 细胞）。接种疫苗和未接种疫苗的对照猴将接受已知剂量的传染性病毒的攻击，以确定疫苗是否会预防感染和/或疾病进展。二十年前报告了第一例艾滋病病例，世界卫生组织最近发布的一份报告表明，全世界约有 4000 万人感染艾滋病毒。目前，尚无有效疫苗预防感染，疫情仍在持续蔓延。如果拟议的研究成功，它可能为开发人类应用的有效疫苗提供重要信息。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The main objective is to determine the immunogenicity and efficacy of a novel candidate vaccine for AIDS in the macaque model. The vaccine is formulated with a novel synthetic multi-peptide conjugate (MPC) system that represents one of the major proteins of HIV known as Tat (trans activator of transcription). Tat protein has an important function in replication of the virus. Therefore, we plan to vaccinate monkeys with a synthetic MPC Tat vaccine to stimulate the monkey's immune system to produce virus specific proteins (antibodies), and white blood cells (CD4+ and CD8+ T cells). The vaccinated and unvaccinated control monkeys will be challenged with a known dose of infectious virus to determine whether the vaccine will prevent infection and or disease progression. The first AIDS cases were reported two decades ago, and WHO has recently released a report indicating that approximately 40 million persons are infected with HIV worldwide. As yet, there is no effective vaccine for prevention of infection and the epidemic continues to spread. If the proposed study is successful, it is likely to provide important information toward development of an effective vaccine for human application.