Background: Developing an effective vaccine is crucial for the prevention and control of AIDS. Viral vector-based vaccines, particularly those utilizing homologous or heterologous prime-boost strategies, represent an important direction in current HI...
Alphaviruses are enveloped single stranded RNA viruses, which as gene therapy vectors provide high-level transient gene expression. Semliki Forest virus (SFV), Sindbis virus (SIN) and Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis (VEE) virus have been engineered as...
Gene therapy with viral vectors has significantly advanced in the past few decades, with adenovirus being one of the most commonly employed vectors for cancer gene therapy. Adenovirus vectors can be divided into 2 groups: (1) replication-deficient vi...
Alphavirus vectors have demonstrated high levels of transient heterologous gene expression both in vitro and in vivo and, therefore, possess attractive features for vaccine development. The most commonly used delivery vectors are based on three singl...
Chloroquine and Emetine are drugs used to treat human parasitic infections. In addition, it has been shown that these drugs have an antiviral effect. Both drugs were also found to cause a suppressive effect on the growth of cancer cells of different...
Adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) are small, non-enveloped viruses that package a single-stranded (ss)DNA genome of 4.7 kilobases (kb) within their T = 1 icosahedral capsid. AAVs are replication-deficient viruses that require a helper virus to complete...
It is generally believed that a successful Zika virus (ZIKV) vaccine should induce neutralizing antibodies against the ZIKV envelope (E) protein to efficiently halt viral infection. However, E-specific neutralizing antibodies have been implicated in...
The major type I interferon-producing plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) surround and infiltrate certain tumors like malignant melanoma, head and neck cancer, and ovarian and breast cancer. The presence of pDC in these tumors is associated with an un...
Aging is associated with a decline in immune system functionality. So-called immunosenescence may impair the successful vaccination of elderly people. Thus, improved vaccination strategies also suitable for an aged immune system are required. Modifie...
Protection against chronic infections has necessitated the development of ever-more potent vaccination tools. HIV seems to be the most challenging foe, with a remarkable, poorly immunogenic and fragile surface glycoprotein and the ability to overpowe...
Oncolytic viruses show specific targeting and killing of tumor cells and therefore provide attractive assets for cancer immunotherapy. In parallel to oncolytic viral vectors based on adenoviruses and herpes simplex viruses, oncolytic RNA viruses and...
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) has caused extensive outbreaks in several countries within the Americas, Asia, Oceanic/Pacific Islands, and Europe. In humans, CHIKV infections cause a debilitating disease with acute febrile illness and long-term polyarthra...
Despite the widespread accessibility of vaccines and antivirals, seasonal influenza virus epidemics continue to pose a threat to public health. In this study, we constructed a recombinant replication-deficient simian adenovirus type 25 vector carryin...
Currently licensed vaccines against the influenza A virus (IAV) need to be updated annually to match the constantly evolving antigenicity of the influenza virus glycoproteins, hemagglutinin (HA), and neuramidiase (NA). Attempts to develop universal v...
In the infectious diseases field, protective immunity against individual virus species or strains does not always confer cross-reactive immunity to closely related viruses, leaving individuals susceptible to disease after exposure to related virus sp...
Respiratory viruses infections caused by influenza viruses, human parainfluenza virus (hPIV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and coronaviruses are an eminent threat for public health. Currently, there are no licensed vaccines available for hPIV, R...
During the COVID-19 pandemic, antibody-based vaccines targeting the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein were the focus for development because neutralizing antibodies were associated with protection against the SARS-CoV-2 infection pre-clinically and in hu...
Background: Emerging immune-evasive viral variants threaten the efficacy of current vaccines, underscoring the need for strategies that elicit broad and durable protection. Heterologous prime–boost regimens combining distinct vaccine platforms...
The current pandemic and the possible emergence of new viruses urgently require the rapid development of antiviral vaccines and therapeutics. However, some viruses or newly generated variants are difficult to culture in common cell types or exhibit l...
The role of accessory proteins during cell-to-cell transmission of HIV-1 has not been explicitly defined. In part, this is related to difficulties in measuring virus replication in cell cocultures with high accuracy, as cells coexist at different sta...
Oncolytic viruses show intriguing potential as cancer therapeutic agents. These viruses are capable of selectively targeting and killing cancerous cells while leaving healthy cells largely unaffected. The use of oncolytic viruses for cancer treatment...
Current SARS-CoV-2 vaccines provide protection for COVID-19-associated hospitalization and death, but remain inefficient at inhibiting initial infection and transmission. Despite updated booster formulations, breakthrough infections and reinfections...
The Modified Vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) is a highly attenuated vaccinia virus serving as a promising vector vaccine platform to develop vaccines against infectious diseases. In contrast to the well-established replication deficiency and safety of MV...
In recent years, the persistent emergence of novel infectious pathogens (epitomized by the global coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-2019) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)) has propelled nucleic acid testin...
Mayaro virus (MAYV) is an emerging alphavirus causing acute febrile illness associated with chronic polyarthralgia. Although MAYV is currently restricted to tropical regions in South America around the Amazon basin, it has the potential to spread glo...