Voice Series COVID-19 Special Collection Part 1: Interview with clinicians: COVID-19 mutation and current breakthrough in vaccine development

Background:: The combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) could increase the number of circulating naive CD4 T lymphocytes, but was not able to eradicate human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infection. Objective:: Thus, induction of strong immune responses is important for control of HIV-1 infection. Furthermore, a simple and perfect serological method is required to detect virus in untreated-, treated- and drug resistant- HIV-1 infected individuals. Methods:: This study was conducted to assess and compare immunogenic properties of Nef, Vif, Vpr and Vpu accessory proteins as an antigen candidate in mice and their diagnostic importance in human as a biomarker. Results:: Our data showed that in mice, all heterologous prime/ boost regimens were more potent than homologous prime/ boost regimens in eliciting Th1 response and Granzyme B secretion as CTL activity. Moreover, the Nef, Vpu and Vif proteins could significantly increase Th1 immune response. In contrast, the Vpr protein could considerably induce Th2 immune response. On the other hand, among four accessory proteins, HIV-1 Vpu could significantly detect treated group from untreated group as a possible biomarker in human. Conclusion:: Generally, among accessory proteins, Nef, Vpu and Vif antigens were potentially more suitable vaccine antigen candidates than Vpr antigen. Human antibodies against all these proteins were higher in HIV-1 different groups than healthy group. Among them, Vpu was known as a potent antigen in diagnosis of treated from untreated individuals. The potency of accessory proteins as an antigen candidate in an animal model and a human cohort study are underway.

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The chronicle of COVID-19: possible strategies to curb the pandemic

Current Medicinal Chemistry ◽

10.2174/0929867327666200702151018 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 27 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Rajesh Kumar ◽

Seetha Harilal ◽

Abdullah G. Al-Sehemi ◽

Githa Elizabeth Mathew ◽

Simone Carradori ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Research And Development ◽

Vaccine Development ◽

Therapeutic Strategies ◽

Antiviral Drugs ◽

Limited Data ◽

Social Distancing ◽

The World ◽

Novel Virus ◽

Day By Day

: COVID-19, an epidemic that emerged in Wuhan, has become a pandemic affecting worldwide and is in a rapidly evolving condition. Day by day, the confirmed cases and deaths are increasing many folds. SARS-CoV-2 is a novel virus; therefore, limited data are available to curb the disease. Epidemiological approaches, isolation, quarantine, social distancing, lockdown, and curfew are being employed to halt the spread of the disease. Individual and joint efforts all over the world are producing a wealth of data and information which are expected to produce therapeutic strategies against COVID-19. Current research focuses on the utilization of antiviral drugs, repurposing strategies, vaccine development as well as basic to advanced research about the organism and the infection. The review focuses on the life cycle, targets, and possible therapeutic strategies, which can lead to further research and development of COVID-19 therapy.

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T-cell Epitope-based Vaccine Design for Nipah Virus by Reverse Vaccinology Approach

Combinatorial Chemistry & High Throughput Screening ◽

10.2174/1386207323666200427114343 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 23 (8) ◽

pp. 788-796

Author(s):

Praveen K.P. Krishnamoorthy ◽

Sekar Subasree ◽

Udhayachandran Arthi ◽

Mohammad Mobashir ◽

Chirag Gowda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

T Cell ◽

Mhc Class Ii ◽

Vaccine Development ◽

Nipah Virus ◽

3D Structure ◽

Cell Epitope ◽

Class Ii ◽

Class I ◽

Reverse Vaccinology ◽

Stable Complex

Aim and Objective: Nipah virus (NiV) is a zoonotic virus of the paramyxovirus family that sporadically breaks out from livestock and spreads in humans through breathing resulting in an indication of encephalitis syndrome. In the current study, T cell epitopes with the NiV W protein antigens were predicted. Materials and Methods: Modelling of unavailable 3D structure of W protein followed by docking studies of respective Human MHC - class I and MHC - class II alleles predicted was carried out for the highest binding rates. In the computational analysis, epitopes were assessed for immunogenicity, conservation, and toxicity analysis. T – cell-based vaccine development against NiV was screened for eight epitopes of Indian - Asian origin. Results: Two epitopes, SPVIAEHYY and LVNDGLNII, have been screened and selected for further docking study based on toxicity and conservancy analyses. These epitopes showed a significant score of -1.19 kcal/mol and 0.15 kcal/mol with HLA- B*35:03 and HLA- DRB1 * 07:03, respectively by using allele - Class I and Class II from AutoDock. These two peptides predicted by the reverse vaccinology approach are likely to induce immune response mediated by T – cells. Conclusion: Simulation using GROMACS has revealed that LVNDGLNII epitope forms a more stable complex with HLA molecule and will be useful in developing the epitope-based Nipah virus vaccine.

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