Combination Vaccine Delivers Double Blow

Return to Vaccination News Home Page

Subscribe to the Vaccination NewsLetter

View past & current Scandals (columns by Sandy Mintz)

Search This Site using keywords

http://www.hum-molgen.de/NewsGen/06-2003/msg06.html

     
 
home   genetic news   bioinformatics   biotechnology   literature   journals   ethics   positions   events   sitemap
 
  HUM-MOLGEN -> Genetic News | search  
  Combination Vaccine Delivers Double Blow  
  June, 2 2003 5:00

 

  
     
  A new vaccine approach that delivers a one-two punch could give the immune system an edge against malaria, AIDS and other exigent diseases in people, Adrian Hill and colleagues report in the June issue of Nature Medicine.

The researchers tested their method using a malaria vaccine in human volunteers. They first treated the volunteers with the parasite’s DNA, followed by a boost with a modified poxvirus that expresses parasite proteins. The ‘prime’ and ‘boost’ contained distinctly different proteins from the parasite.

Neither DNA nor poxvirus in isolation induced a potent response, the team found. But the combination ramped up the activation of T cells -- a subset of immune cells -- and provided partial protection against malaria infection. The approach has the potential to outshine more conventional experimental vaccines against malaria. Similar vaccine approaches have already shown promise in AIDS vaccine trials.

Author contact:

Adrian Hill
Nuffield Department of Medicine
University of Oxford, UK
Tel: +44 1865 222301
E-mail: adrian.hill@imm.ox.ac.uk

Also available online.

(C) Nature Medicine press release.

 

print this article mail this article



Author: Trevor M. D'Souza
 

 

  
             
 

Generated by News Editor 2.0 by Kai Garlipp
WWW: Kai Garlipp, Frank S. Zollmann.
7.0 © 1995-2003 HUM-MOLGEN. All rights reserved. Liability, Copyright and Imprint.

  

 

 

 

Return to Vaccination News Home Page

DISCLAIMER:    All information, data, and material contained, presented, or provided here is for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as reflecting the knowledge or opinions of the publisher, and is not to be construed or intended as providing medical or legal advice.  The decision whether or not to vaccinate is an important and complex issue and should be made by you, and you alone, in consultation with your health care provider.