Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics Research Works

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/14

Browse

Subject: search.filters.subject.hepatitis C virus (HCV)

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Structural and Biophysical Characterization of the HCV E1E2 Heterodimer for Vaccine Development
    (MDPI, 2021-05-29) Toth, Eric A.; Chagas, Andrezza; Pierce, Brian G.; Fuerst, Thomas R.
    An effective vaccine for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major unmet medical and public health need, and it requires an antigen that elicits immune responses to multiple key conserved epitopes. Decades of research have generated a number of vaccine candidates; based on these data and research through clinical development, a vaccine antigen based on the E1E2 glycoprotein complex appears to be the best choice. One bottleneck in the development of an E1E2-based vaccine is that the antigen is challenging to produce in large quantities and at high levels of purity and antigenic/functional integrity. This review describes the production and characterization of E1E2-based vaccine antigens, both membrane-associated and a novel secreted form of E1E2, with a particular emphasis on the major challenges facing the field and how those challenges can be addressed.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Immunopotentiating and Delivery Systems for HCV Vaccines
    (MDPI, 2021-05-25) Andrianov, Alexander K.; Fuerst, Thomas R.
    Development of preventive vaccines against hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains one of the main strategies in achieving global elimination of the disease. The effort is focused on the quest for vaccines capable of inducing protective cross-neutralizing humoral and cellular immune responses, which in turn dictate the need for rationally designed cross-genotype vaccine antigens and potent immunoadjuvants systems. This review provides an assessment of the current state of knowledge on immunopotentiating compounds and vaccine delivery systems capable of enhancing HCV antigen-specific immune responses, while focusing on the synergy and interplay of two modalities. Structural, physico-chemical, and biophysical features of these systems are discussed in conjunction with the analysis of their in vivo performance. Extreme genetic diversity of HCV-a well-known hurdle in the development of an HCV vaccine, may also present a challenge in a search for an effective immunoadjuvant, as the effort necessitates systematic and comparative screening of rationally designed antigenic constructs. The progress may be accelerated if the preference is given to well-defined molecular immunoadjuvants with greater formulation flexibility and adaptability, including those capable of spontaneous self-assembly behavior, while maintaining their robust immunopotentiating and delivery capabilities.