PROTECTIVE IMMUNE RESPONSES AGAINST HEPATITIS C VIRUS

描述（改编自申请人的摘要）：全世界，1.7亿人 慢性感染丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）。发展一个安全 有效的重组HCV亚单位疫苗是我们的长期目标。 由于对病毒包膜蛋白的体液应答的质量和 对多种HCV蛋白的细胞应答的广度影响疾病 因此，HCV疫苗必须由多种HCV蛋白组成， 利用一种增强广泛免疫力的策略。的可行性 方法在第一阶段的研究中得到了证明， 病毒结构蛋白这些蛋白质似乎具有类似天然的结构， 每一种都有特殊的属性，使它们成为有吸引力的亚单位疫苗， 候选人在II期研究中，将产生额外的HCV蛋白。小鼠 将用蛋白质的单独和组合进行免疫， 体液反应的组成以及细胞反应的程度和类型 将对所引起的反应进行评价。通过剖析免疫反应， 可以定义使每个亚单位的潜力最大化的疫苗策略。在 在第二阶段研究的最后一年，确定的疫苗战略将是 在灵长类动物身上做了测试第二阶段研究产生的信息代表了 这是开发针对HCV的多组分疫苗的关键一步。 拟议商业应用：不可用

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from Applicant's Abstract): Worldwide, 170 million people are chronically infected with Hepatitis C virus (HCV). Development of a safe and efficacious recombinant subunit vaccine for HCV is our long-term goal. Since the quality of the humoral response to viral envelop proteins and the breadth of the cellular response to multiple HCV proteins influence disease resolution, an HCV vaccine must be comprised of multiple HCV proteins and utilize a strategy which elicits broad based immunity. Feasibility of this approach was demonstrated in Phase I research within the production of five viral structural proteins. These proteins appear to have native-like structure, and each has specific attributes which make them attractive as subunit vaccine candidates. In Phase II research additional HCV proteins will be produced. Mice will be immunized with individual and combinations of proteins, and the composition of the humoral response and the extent and type of cellular response elicited will be evaluated. By dissecting the immune response, a vaccine strategy can be defined which maximizes each subunit's potential. In the last year of Phase II research, the identified vaccine strategy will be tested in primates. The information generated from Phase II research represents a crucial step in developing a multi-component vaccine against HCV. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: NOT AVAILABLE