Owais Mohammad | |
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| Born | India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Known for | Studies on nanotechnology-based vaccine and drug delivery |
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| Scientific career | |
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Owais Mohammad is an Indian immunologist, nano-technologist and a professor at the interdisciplinary biotechnology unit of the Aligarh Muslim University. [2] Known for his studies on nanotechnology-based vaccine and drug delivery, Owais is the author of two books, Trypanothione reductase: a potential anti-leishmanial drug target [3] and Antimicrobial properties of clove oil: clove oils as antimicrobial agent. [4] He has also co-edited two books, Modern Phytomedicine: Turning Medicinal Plants into Drugs [5] and Combating Fungal Infections: Problems and Remedy, [6] and has contributed chapters. [7] His studies have also been documented by way of a number of articles [8] [note 1] and ResearchGate, an online repository of scientific articles has listed 60 of them. [9] He is a recipient of the Rashtriya Gaurav Award of the India International Friendship Society. [10] The Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India awarded him the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to biosciences in 2007. [11] His work has been displayed on cover pages of FEMS Immunol. Med Microbiology for all the issues of Year 2006 and Molecular Medicine in May–June issue of Year 2007. [2]
Owais did his undergraduate and post-graduate studies in Pharmacy from Delhi University, India, after which he pursued his doctoral research from Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), one of premier biotechnology institutes in India and Panjab University, Chandigarh, under the mentorship of Prof. C. M. Gupta. Later, he joined National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA as Fogarty Post Doctoral Fellow, where he worked on HIV. During his stay at NIH, he demonstrated that the introduction of HIV-1 genome into PBMCs blocks the propagation of HIV-2 viruses. [12] His work on the antiviral chemokine, RANTES established that the amino-terminal domain of the chemokine was not essential for its antiviral activity or for its binding to the CCR5 receptor. [13] He is currently serving as a professor of biotechnology at Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Unit, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, [2] working in the area of drug delivery since his joining in 1998.
Besides active involvement in teaching modern biochemistry/biotechnology courses to M.Sc./Ph.D students, Owais has successfully established a small but active research group with focus on nanoparticle-based novel delivery systems including dendrimers/virosomes for gene packaging and liposomes, niosomes, microspheres and solid core lipid nano-particles for vaccine delivery, gene delivery, targeted drug delivery etc.; with a view to increase the efficacy and safety of encapsulated chemotherapeutic agents/subunit vaccines for some important infectious diseases.
The research focus of Dr. Owais’s group has been on:
Reckoning with the limitations of conventional vaccine, the main focus of Dr. Owais’s research endeavors has been to develop nano-vaccines against various infectious diseases of bacterial (tuberculosis, salmonellosis, listeriosis and brucellosis), protozoan (malaria, leishmaniasis) and fungal (candidasis and cryoptococcosis) origin.
In general, specialized groups of pathogens adapt intra-cellular parasitism as a strategy to avoid antibody onslaught. Keeping into consideration the non-effectiveness of humoral immune response against such intracellular pathogens, Dr. Owais evaluated potential of fusogenic lipid based vaccines as an alternative prophylactic strategy. [14] [15] In this regard, he has compared lipid compositions of plasma membranes of both prokaryotic [15] as well as eukaryotic cells. [16] These studies established a correlation between the lipid compositions of plasma membranes of living organisms with evolutionary trend. Lipid isolated from lower organisms possesses strong fusogenic potential. [15] He established that model antigens entrapped in liposomes made up of fusogenic lipids, can be delivered to the target cells including antigen-presenting cells, [16] resulting in both the endo/lysosomal and cytosolic degradation pathways for antigen processing. The dual processing of antigens in the antigen presenting cells activated both the CD4+ T helper as well as CD8+ cytotoxic T cells. [17] [18] [19] Further, he established that immunization with fusogenic liposomes resulted in expression of both IL-2 and IFN-γ, the two key cytokines that eventually help in protection against intracellular infections. [17]
Keeping in view that sperm-ova fusion during zygote formation is generally facilitated by specific lipid compositions of the two cell populations, he demonstrated the fusogenic attributes of sperm plasma membrane lipids, [14] and established the prophylactic potential of spermatosome based vaccines against various intracellular pathogens. [20] As conventional egg phosphatidylcholine based liposomes are of limited application in activation of pathogen specific CTL response required for inhibiting intracellular pathogens, he developed non-phosphatidylcholine liposome as vehicle for delivery of antigens in prophylactic treatment of experimental leishmaniasis. [18] Further, the liposome/niosome based vaccines were also found to be effective against malaria parasite. [21] In addition, he has prepared archael lipid based liposomes and demonstrated their immunoadjuvant potential in model animals. Of note, the archaeosome based vaccine were used to mount long lasting memory response against experimental listeriosis. [22]
Further, Dr. Owais has highlighted interactions between two mycobacterial proteins viz. Rv3619 (RD9 family) and Rv3620 (CFP-10 analog). He demonstrated that Rv3619 protein disrupted the biomembrane and also evoked a strong immunological response. [23] Moreover, it was revealed that nanoparticle mediated targeting of RD9 gene products to dendritic cells favors Th1 prototype of CD4+ T lymphocytes. [24] He had successfully expressed L7/L12 ribosomal protein, SOD-IL-18 fusion protein of Brucella spp. and trypanothione reductase of Leishmania donavani . [25] The recombinant proteins were used as potent subunit vaccines in protection studies. [26] [27] Liposome-based DNA vaccine developed by Dr. Owais has shown remarkable promise against experimental murine brucellosis. [28]
Besides introducing liposome, niosome and microsphere based novel particulate vaccines; Dr. Owais has recently employed an autologous plasma bead based dual antigen delivery system as a prophylactic strategy against intracellular infections. [29] The liposome/microsphere entrapped antigen further co-entrapped in dual core fibrin beads based vaccine was shown to eliminate intracellular pathogens from systemic circulation. [30]
Liposomes have been widely considered useful as drug/enzyme/nucleic acid vehicles in therapy. However, their successful application was limited by their rapid lysis in blood, major uptake by the RES, and lack of availability of simple procedures for specific targeted delivery. The main emphasis of Dr. Owais has been therefore on addressing some of the problems associated with the liposomes as drug delivery systems. He demonstrated that covalent attachment of anti-erythrocyte F(ab')2 to the liposomes surface enables the liposomes to specifically recognize the erythrocytes in vivo and deliver their contents to these cells. It was further demonstrated that the entrapment of anti-malarial drugs like chloroquine (chq), in the antibody-coated liposomes increases the drug efficacy not only against the chq-sensitive but also against the chq-resistant malarial infections. Encouraged by these results, the liposomes were coated with F(ab')2 fragments of a monoclonal antibody which specifically recognized the malaria-infected erythrocytes (Patent No. 182550). [31] The monoclonal antibody bearing liposomes with encapsulated chq were found to be highly effective in the treatment of chq-resistant experimental malaria. [32]
He was awarded the Young Scientist Award (MYSA) in Life Sciences in 2002. [2] Aligarh Muslim University bestowed him with Outstanding University Researcher Award in 2008 and again with the Best Teacher Award in 2009. [2] The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) of the Government of India awarded him the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards in 2007. In 2013, he received the TATA Innovation Award by DBT, Govt. of India and IIFS-Rashtriya Gaurav Award. Other notable awards include VIFRA Distinguished Research Scientist Award-2015 [1] and Indus Research Excellence Award-2015. [2]
Owais is a member of editorial boards of several international journals including the Open Vaccine Journal (Bentham Press), BioMed Research International (Hindawi Publishing Group), Journal of Clinical Medicine Research (Academic Press), Journal of Chinese Clinical Medicine, Biomedical Research, World Journal of Critical Infectious Diseases (BPG Press), World Journal of Experimental medicine (BPG Press). [2]
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A DNA vaccine is a type of vaccine that transfects a specific antigen-coding DNA sequence into the cells of an organism as a mechanism to induce an immune response.
Transfection is the process of deliberately introducing naked or purified nucleic acids into eukaryotic cells. It may also refer to other methods and cell types, although other terms are often preferred: "transformation" is typically used to describe non-viral DNA transfer in bacteria and non-animal eukaryotic cells, including plant cells. In animal cells, transfection is the preferred term as transformation is also used to refer to progression to a cancerous state (carcinogenesis) in these cells. Transduction is often used to describe virus-mediated gene transfer into eukaryotic cells.
A liposome is a small artificial vesicle, spherical in shape, having at least one lipid bilayer. Due to their hydrophobicity and/or hydrophilicity, biocompatibility, particle size and many other properties, liposomes can be used as drug delivery vehicles for administration of pharmaceutical drugs and nutrients, such as lipid nanoparticles in mRNA vaccines, and DNA vaccines. Liposomes can be prepared by disrupting biological membranes.
Immunogenicity is the ability of a foreign substance, such as an antigen, to provoke an immune response in the body of a human or other animal. It may be wanted or unwanted:
Tuberculosis (TB) vaccines are vaccinations intended for the prevention of tuberculosis. Immunotherapy as a defence against TB was first proposed in 1890 by Robert Koch. Today, the only effective tuberculosis vaccine in common use is the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, first used on humans in 1921. It consists of attenuated (weakened) strains of the cattle tuberculosis bacillus. It is recommended for babies in countries where tuberculosis is common.
rBCG30 is a prospective Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine against tuberculosis. It is a live vaccine, consisting of BCG, which has been evaluated as a tuberculosis vaccination. It is genetically modified to produce abundant amounts of mycolyl transferase, a 30kDa antigen that has been shown to produce a strong immune response in animals and humans. rBCG30 had been in human clinical trials, but no clinical development has been reported since 2007.
A virosome is a drug or vaccine delivery mechanism consisting of unilamellar phospholipid membrane vesicle incorporating virus derived proteins to allow the virosomes to fuse with target cells. Viruses are infectious agents that can replicate in their host organism, however virosomes do not replicate. The properties that virosomes share with viruses are based on their structure; virosomes are essentially safely modified viral envelopes that contain the phospholipid membrane and surface glycoproteins. As a drug or vaccine delivery mechanism they are biologically compatible with many host organisms and are also biodegradable. The use of reconstituted virally derived proteins in the formation of the virosome allows for the utilization of what would otherwise be the immunogenic properties of a live-attenuated virus, but is instead a safely killed virus. A safely killed virus can serve as a promising vector because it won't cause infection and the viral structure allows the virosome to recognize specific components of its target cells.
Cationic liposomes are spherical structures that contain positively charged lipids. Cationic liposomes can vary in size between 40 nm and 500 nm, and they can either have one lipid bilayer (monolamellar) or multiple lipid bilayers (multilamellar). The positive charge of the phospholipids allows cationic liposomes to form complexes with negatively charged nucleic acids through ionic interactions. Upon interacting with nucleic acids, cationic liposomes form clusters of aggregated vesicles. These interactions allow cationic liposomes to condense and encapsulate various therapeutic and diagnostic agents in their aqueous compartment or in their lipid bilayer. These cationic liposome-nucleic acid complexes are also referred to as lipoplexes. Due to the overall positive charge of cationic liposomes, they interact with negatively charged cell membranes more readily than classic liposomes. This positive charge can also create some issues in vivo, such as binding to plasma proteins in the bloodstream, which leads to opsonization. These issues can be reduced by optimizing the physical and chemical properties of cationic liposomes through their lipid composition. Cationic liposomes are increasingly being researched for use as delivery vectors in gene therapy due to their capability to efficiently transfect cells. A common application for cationic liposomes is cancer drug delivery.
Drug delivery refers to approaches, formulations, manufacturing techniques, storage systems, and technologies involved in transporting a pharmaceutical compound to its target site to achieve a desired therapeutic effect. Principles related to drug preparation, route of administration, site-specific targeting, metabolism, and toxicity are used to optimize efficacy and safety, and to improve patient convenience and compliance. Drug delivery is aimed at altering a drug's pharmacokinetics and specificity by formulating it with different excipients, drug carriers, and medical devices. There is additional emphasis on increasing the bioavailability and duration of action of a drug to improve therapeutic outcomes. Some research has also been focused on improving safety for the person administering the medication. For example, several types of microneedle patches have been developed for administering vaccines and other medications to reduce the risk of needlestick injury.
Targeted drug delivery, sometimes called smart drug delivery, is a method of delivering medication to a patient in a manner that increases the concentration of the medication in some parts of the body relative to others. This means of delivery is largely founded on nanomedicine, which plans to employ nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery in order to combat the downfalls of conventional drug delivery. These nanoparticles would be loaded with drugs and targeted to specific parts of the body where there is solely diseased tissue, thereby avoiding interaction with healthy tissue. The goal of a targeted drug delivery system is to prolong, localize, target and have a protected drug interaction with the diseased tissue. The conventional drug delivery system is the absorption of the drug across a biological membrane, whereas the targeted release system releases the drug in a dosage form. The advantages to the targeted release system is the reduction in the frequency of the dosages taken by the patient, having a more uniform effect of the drug, reduction of drug side-effects, and reduced fluctuation in circulating drug levels. The disadvantage of the system is high cost, which makes productivity more difficult, and the reduced ability to adjust the dosages.
In immunology, an adjuvant is a substance that increases or modulates the immune response to a vaccine. The word "adjuvant" comes from the Latin word adiuvare, meaning to help or aid. "An immunologic adjuvant is defined as any substance that acts to accelerate, prolong, or enhance antigen-specific immune responses when used in combination with specific vaccine antigens."
PEGylation is the process of both covalent and non-covalent attachment or amalgamation of polyethylene glycol polymer chains to molecules and macrostructures, such as a drug, therapeutic protein or vesicle, which is then described as PEGylated. PEGylation affects the resulting derivatives or aggregates interactions, which typically slows down their coalescence and degradation as well as elimination in vivo.
A subunit vaccine is a vaccine that contains purified parts of the pathogen that are antigenic, or necessary to elicit a protective immune response. Subunit vaccine can be made from dissembled viral particles in cell culture or recombinant DNA expression, in which case it is a recombinant subunit vaccine.
Gene therapy utilizes the delivery of DNA into cells, which can be accomplished by several methods, summarized below. The two major classes of methods are those that use recombinant viruses and those that use naked DNA or DNA complexes.
Nanoparticles for drug delivery to the brain is a method for transporting drug molecules across the blood–brain barrier (BBB) using nanoparticles. These drugs cross the BBB and deliver pharmaceuticals to the brain for therapeutic treatment of neurological disorders. These disorders include Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, depression, and brain tumors. Part of the difficulty in finding cures for these central nervous system (CNS) disorders is that there is yet no truly efficient delivery method for drugs to cross the BBB. Antibiotics, antineoplastic agents, and a variety of CNS-active drugs, especially neuropeptides, are a few examples of molecules that cannot pass the BBB alone. With the aid of nanoparticle delivery systems, however, studies have shown that some drugs can now cross the BBB, and even exhibit lower toxicity and decrease adverse effects throughout the body. Toxicity is an important concept for pharmacology because high toxicity levels in the body could be detrimental to the patient by affecting other organs and disrupting their function. Further, the BBB is not the only physiological barrier for drug delivery to the brain. Other biological factors influence how drugs are transported throughout the body and how they target specific locations for action. Some of these pathophysiological factors include blood flow alterations, edema and increased intracranial pressure, metabolic perturbations, and altered gene expression and protein synthesis. Though there exist many obstacles that make developing a robust delivery system difficult, nanoparticles provide a promising mechanism for drug transport to the CNS.
An mRNAvaccine is a type of vaccine that uses a copy of a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) to produce an immune response. The vaccine delivers molecules of antigen-encoding mRNA into immune cells, which use the designed mRNA as a blueprint to build foreign protein that would normally be produced by a pathogen or by a cancer cell. These protein molecules stimulate an adaptive immune response that teaches the body to identify and destroy the corresponding pathogen or cancer cells. The mRNA is delivered by a co-formulation of the RNA encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles that protect the RNA strands and help their absorption into the cells.
RNA therapeutics are a new class of medications based on ribonucleic acid (RNA). Research has been working on clinical use since the 1990s, with significant success in cancer therapy in the early 2010s. In 2020 and 2021, mRNA vaccines have been developed globally for use in combating the coronavirus disease. The Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was the first mRNA vaccine approved by a medicines regulator, followed by the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, and others.
Intracellular delivery is the process of introducing external materials into living cells. Materials that are delivered into cells include nucleic acids, proteins, peptides, impermeable small molecules, synthetic nanomaterials, organelles, and micron-scale tracers, devices and objects. Such molecules and materials can be used to investigate cellular behavior, engineer cell operations or correct a pathological function.
Darrick Carter is an American biochemist/biophysicist, inventor, and entrepreneur. He is known for developing various therapeutics and vaccines, such as saRNA COVID-19 vaccine, influenza vaccine, and tuberculosis vaccine. Currently, he is the CEO of Compliment Corporation, and PAI Life Sciences Incorporated, as well as Founder of HDT Bio Corporation. He also holds two affiliate Professorships at the University of Washington in the Schools of Medicine and in Global Health.
Immunoliposome therapy is a targeted drug delivery method that involves the use of liposomes – artificial lipid bilayer vesicles – coupled with monoclonal antibodies – bind to a single epitope on a specific antigen – to deliver therapeutic agents to specific sites or tissues in the body. The antibody modified liposomes target tissue through cell-specific antibodies with release of therapeutics contained in the assimilated liposomes. Immunoliposome therapy is integrated into the broader ecosystem of drug delivery and therapeutic interventions, with its roles aligning with the pursuit of tailored medical treatments and the addressing of challenges related to drug stability, personalized treatment, and drug efficacy. This form of therapy has been used to engineer immune properties for targeting specific cells, protecting encapsulated drugs from degradation to enhance stability, facilitating sustained release of drugs, personalizing medicine based on individual patient biomarkers, and, overall, attempting to advance current traditional cancer treatment.
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