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Dendritic Cell‐Based Vaccine against Coccidioides Infection
Author(s) -
AWASTHI SHANJANA
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1196/annals.1406.013
Subject(s) - coccidioides , immunology , virulence , immunotherapy , biology , adjuvant , vaccination , microbiology and biotechnology , virology , immune system , gene , genetics
: Coccidioides causes coccidioidomycosis in the southwestern United States. Its clinical manifestations range from the primary asymptomatic to progressive pulmonary and extrapulmonary disease. Because of endemicity, frequent relapse, and virulent nature of Coccidioides , there is an urgent need for the development of effective therapy or vaccine. It has been recognized from studies in human patients and in murine models that the divergence in their susceptibility to Coccidioides infection is related to differences in T cell response. Dendritic cells (DCs) are most potent antigen‐presenting cells that play a critical role in activating naïve T cells. On account of their unique immunostimulatory capacity, DCs have been used for the development of immunotherapy and vaccines against cancer and infectious diseases. We recently investigated the immunostimulatory potential of a DC‐based vaccine in a murine model against Coccidioides posadasii ( C. posadasii ). Our results suggest that DCs act as a potent adjuvant and activate protective responses in mice against C. posadasii .