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Innovative Strategies in the Development of Antivirals and Vaccines

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 June 2024) | Viewed by 5438

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Guest Editor
Department of Molecular Genetics and Biotechnologies, V.I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University, 295007 Simferopol, Crimea
Interests: oligonucleotide insecticides; DNA insecticides; antisense oligoilators; DNA synthesis; plant protection; green agriculture
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

vaccines and drugs help mankind reduce the effects of natural selection when meeting and dealing with viruses. On the one hand, this slows down the process of adaptation of the human population to negative environmental factors; on the other hand, we save that which is most valuable—the life of each individual person. Nevertheless, it must be recognized that drugs and vaccines only delay the fatal meeting of the causative agent of the disease with those who are pathogen-sensitive or their genetic descendants. Majority of viruses constantly sweep their tracks and perhaps one of the most promising solutions in the fight against them is the creation of 'universal' drugs and vaccines.

This Special Issue aims to discuss innovative strategies in the development of antivirals and vaccines. In particular, topics such as the oligonucleotide vaccines against RNA viruses and novel antivirals acting as viral replication blockers will be addressed in this issue. This issue aims to provide an in-depth picture of advances in the prevention and treatment of viral diseases, despite the fact that some do not yet fit within the framework of a modern textbook on immunology.

Dr. Volodymyr V. Oberemok
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  •  antivirals
  •  vaccines
  •  viruses
  •  innate immunity
  •  adaptive immunity
  •  viral replication
  •  antibodies
  •  immunological memory
  •  B and T cells

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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14 pages, 948 KiB  
Article
Disruption of Erythritol Catabolism via the Deletion of Fructose-Bisphosphate Aldolase (Fba) and Transaldolase (Tal) as a Strategy to Improve the Brucella Rev1 Vaccine
by Aitor Elizalde-Bielsa, Leticia Lázaro-Antón, María Jesús de Miguel, Pilar M. Muñoz, Raquel Conde-Álvarez and Amaia Zúñiga-Ripa
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(20), 11230; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms252011230 (registering DOI) - 18 Oct 2024
Abstract
Brucellosis is a bacterial zoonosis caused by the genus Brucella, which mainly affects domestic animals. In these natural hosts, brucellae display a tropism towards the reproductive organs, such as the placenta, replicating in high numbers and leading to placentitis and abortion, an [...] Read more.
Brucellosis is a bacterial zoonosis caused by the genus Brucella, which mainly affects domestic animals. In these natural hosts, brucellae display a tropism towards the reproductive organs, such as the placenta, replicating in high numbers and leading to placentitis and abortion, an ability also exerted by the B. melitensis live-attenuated Rev1 strain, the only vaccine available for ovine brucellosis. It is broadly accepted that this tropism is mediated, at least in part, by the presence of certain preferred nutrients in the placenta, particularly erythritol, a polyol that is ultimately incorporated into the Brucella central carbon metabolism via two reactions dependent on transaldolase (Tal) or fructose-bisphosphate aldolase (Fba). In the light of these remarks, we propose that blocking the incorporation of erythritol into the central carbon metabolism of Rev1 by deleting the genes encoding Tal and Fba may impair the ability of the vaccine to proliferate massively in the placenta. Therefore, a Rev1ΔfbaΔtal double mutant was generated and confirmed to be unable to use erythritol. This mutant exhibited a reduced intracellular fitness both in BeWo trophoblasts and THP-1 macrophages. In the murine model, Rev1ΔfbaΔtal provided comparable protection to the Rev1 reference vaccine while inducing fewer adverse reproductive events in pregnant animals. Altogether, these results postulate the Rev1ΔfbaΔtal mutant as a reproductively safer Rev1-derived vaccine candidate to be studied in the natural host. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Strategies in the Development of Antivirals and Vaccines)
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16 pages, 3920 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of the Mucosal Immunity Effect of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus Subunit Vaccine E2Fc and E2Ft
by Yanqing Cheng, Shaoyu Tu, Tong Chen, Jiahui Zou, Sheng Wang, Meijun Jiang, Shan Tian, Qingli Guo, Sizhu Suolang and Hongbo Zhou
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(4), 4172; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24044172 - 20 Feb 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2212
Abstract
Classified as a class B infectious disease by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), bovine viral diarrhea/mucosal disease is an acute, highly contagious disease caused by the bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV). Sporadic endemics of BVDV often lead to huge economic losses [...] Read more.
Classified as a class B infectious disease by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), bovine viral diarrhea/mucosal disease is an acute, highly contagious disease caused by the bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV). Sporadic endemics of BVDV often lead to huge economic losses to the dairy and beef industries. To shed light on the prevention and control of BVDV, we developed two novel subunit vaccines by expressing bovine viral diarrhea virus E2 fusion recombinant proteins (E2Fc and E2Ft) through suspended HEK293 cells. We also evaluated the immune effects of the vaccines. The results showed that both subunit vaccines induced an intense mucosal immune response in calves. Mechanistically, E2Fc bonded to the Fc γ receptor (FcγRI) on antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and promoted IgA secretion, leading to a stronger T-cell immune response (Th1 type). The neutralizing antibody titer stimulated by the mucosal-immunized E2Fc subunit vaccine reached 1:64, which was higher than that of the E2Ft subunit vaccine and that of the intramuscular inactivated vaccine. The two novel subunit vaccines for mucosal immunity developed in this study, E2Fc and E2Ft, can be further used as new strategies to control BVDV by enhancing cellular and humoral immunity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Strategies in the Development of Antivirals and Vaccines)
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10 pages, 502 KiB  
Opinion
DNA Oligonucleotides as Antivirals and Vaccine Constituents against SARS Coronaviruses: A Prospective Tool for Immune System Tuning
by Volodymyr V. Oberemok, Oksana A. Andreeva and Edie E. Alieva
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(2), 1553; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24021553 - 13 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2545
Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has demonstrated the need to create highly effective antivirals and vaccines against various RNA viruses, including SARS coronaviruses. This paper provides a short review of innovative strategies in the development of antivirals and vaccines against SARS coronaviruses, with a focus [...] Read more.
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has demonstrated the need to create highly effective antivirals and vaccines against various RNA viruses, including SARS coronaviruses. This paper provides a short review of innovative strategies in the development of antivirals and vaccines against SARS coronaviruses, with a focus on antisense antivirals, oligonucleotide adjuvants in vaccines, and oligonucleotide vaccines. Well-developed viral genomic databases create new opportunities for the development of innovative vaccines and antivirals using a post-genomic platform. The most effective vaccines against SARS coronaviruses are those able to form highly effective memory cells for both humoral and cellular immunity. The most effective antivirals need to efficiently stop viral replication without side effects. Oligonucleotide antivirals and vaccines can resist the rapidly changing genomic sequences of SARS coronaviruses using conserved regions of their genomes to generate a long-term immune response. Oligonucleotides have been used as excellent adjuvants for decades, and increasing data show that oligonucleotides could serve as antisense antivirals and antigens in vaccine formulations, becoming a prospective tool for immune system tuning. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Strategies in the Development of Antivirals and Vaccines)
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