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Development of a multivalent vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus
Author(s) -
Subbarayan Praseetha,
Pillai Shreekumar,
Vig Komal,
Dennis Vida,
Singh Shree Ram
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.859.17
Subject(s) - immunogen , virology , virus , immune system , antigen , biology , western blot , immunity , fusion protein , vector (molecular biology) , recombinant dna , immunology , antibody , monoclonal antibody , gene , biochemistry
Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) has been acknowledged as the most universal cause of critical respiratory tract infections in newborn babies causing high rate of morbidity and mortality. As the virus is ubiquitous in all parts of the world, avoidance of infection is not possible. After RSV infection the immunity is incomplete and secondary infection can occur throughout life. There is no vaccine available and research in this field is ongoing. RSV fusion (F), attachment (G) and matrix (M2) proteins are most sought after due to their potential to induce high immune response. In the present study, we designed a multivalent protein which contained antigenic regions from three proteins of RSV (F, M2 and G). These antigenic regions were cloned into pET‐32 vector and a vector pET‐FM2G was generated. The recombinant protein was expressed and purified using His‐bind columns. The purified protein was analyzed by SDS‐PAGE and western blot to characterize the purity of protein and presence of RSV proteins. Currently, mice are being immunized using the multivalent vaccine to study the immune response. Mice will be challenged with RSV to ultimately test the protection capability of the immunogen. Financial support for this work by National Institutes of Health Grants 2S06 GM008219‐200012 and NSF‐CREST (HRD#0734232) is acknowledged.