Novel Strategies in the Design and Production of Vaccines

Vaccination is one of the most efficient and cost effective methods of promoting human health and has been in clinical use for at least 200 years. Nevertheless, infectious diseases continue to constitute a constant threat to the well being of humanity. Common pathogens, once believed to be under control, acquire increased virulence and resistance to drugs, while exotic microorganisms emerged from hidden reservoirs to cause yet incurable diseases in humans. These changes, together with epidemic outbreaks related to political and socio-economic instabilities, increase the needs for the development of new, advanced vaccines. In this volume, devoted to the proceedings of the 39th OHOLO Conference, we present some of the recent strategies for the design and production of novel vaccines. The advent of recombinant DNA technology has stimulated the production of several subunit vaccines. In spite of the obvious advantages to this approach, the limited immuno­ genicity of many subunit candidates has hindered their development. Strategies to enhance the immunogenicity of subunit vaccines is therefore critical. Several approaches toward this goal, including design of novel adjuvants and delivery systems as well as design of advantageous carriers, are presented here. Among the carriers evaluated here are polypep­ tides (flagellin, HBV core antigen, J3-galactosidase), attenuated virions (Vaccinia, Sindbis), and nonpathogenic licensed bacteria (Salmonella). Front Matter....Pages i-xv Synthetic Vaccines for Infectious and Autoimmune Diseases....Pages 1-5 Host Range Restricted, Non-Replicating Vaccinia Virus Vectors as Vaccine Candidates....Pages 7-13 Hybrid Hepatitis B Virus Core Antigen as a Vaccine Carrier Moiety....Pages 15-21 Synthetic Recombinant Vaccine Induces Anti-Influenza Long-Term Immunity and Cross-Strain Protection....Pages 23-29 Alphavirus-Based Expression Systems....Pages 31-40 Alphavirus Hybrid Virion Vaccines....Pages 41-47 DNA Vaccines for Bacteria and Viruses....Pages 49-53 New Vaccines Against Bacterial Toxins....Pages 55-60 Parameters for the Rational Design of Genetic Toxoid Vaccines....Pages 61-67 Protective Immunity Induced by Bacillus anthracis Toxin Mutant Strains....Pages 69-72 Bacterial Outer Membrane Protein Vaccines....Pages 73-77 Changing Paradigms for an HIV Vaccine....Pages 79-90 Complexed HIV Envelope as a Target for an AIDS Vaccine....Pages 91-96 HIV—Peplotion Vaccine....Pages 97-104 The Role of Adjuvants and Delivery Systems in Modulation of Immune Response to Vaccines....Pages 105-113 Unique Immunomodulating Properties of Dimethyl Dioctadecyl Ammonium Bromide (DDA) in Experimental Viral Vaccines....Pages 115-125 Challenges in the Development of Combination Vaccines....Pages 127-132 Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccines for the Prevention of Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections....Pages 133-140 Production of Influenza Virus in Cell Cultures for Vaccine Preparation....Pages 141-151 Analysis of Bordetella pertussis Suspensions by ELISA and Flow Cytometry....Pages 153-157 Clinical Trials of Shigella Vaccines in Israel....Pages 159-167 Hypothesis: How Licensed Vaccines Confer Protective Immunity....Pages 169-182 Therapeutic Vaccines....Pages 183-189 Back Matter....Pages 191-197