Mechanisms involved in the establishment of viral persistance

病毒感染仍然是全球主要的健康问题。迫切需要针对许多人类和动物病毒感染的更多和更好的疫苗。有趣的是，大多数可用的有效疫苗通过产生抗体来保护。然而，抗体有效产生和提供保护的机制仍然知之甚少。一些病毒感染引发快速和有效的抗体反应，而另一些病毒感染仅诱导不良和晚期反应。我们正在研究高质量抗体的有效生产所涉及的分子机制，这些抗体可以提供针对病毒感染的保护。因此，该研究计划旨在确定持续存在的病毒诱导中和抗体能力差的原因以及提高其免疫原性的方法。这项研究的结果将有助于改进更有效的疫苗设计，以对抗重要的人类病毒感染，如由HCV和HIV引起的感染。

Virus infections remain a major health concern worldwide. There is an urgent need for more and better vaccines against a number of human and animal viral infections. Interestingly, most of the available effective vaccines protect through the production of antibodies. However, the mechanisms by which antibodies are efficiently generated and confer protection remain poorly understood. Some virus infections trigger a rapid and efficient antibody response whereas others only induce poor and late responses. We are studying the molecular mechanisms involved in the efficient production of antibodies of high quality that can confer protection against virus infections. This research program will thus aim at identifying the reasons for the poor ability of persisting viruses to induce neutralizing antibodies and ways to improve their immunogenicity. The results from this study will help to improve the design of more effective vaccines against important human viral infections like those caused by HCV and HIV.