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A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins, or one of its surface proteins. The agent stimulates the body's immune system to recognize the agent as a threat, destroy it, and to further recognize and destroy any of the microorganisms associated with that agent that it may encounter in the future.
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.
An HIV vaccine is a potential vaccine that could be either a preventive vaccine or a therapeutic vaccine, which means it would either protect individuals from being infected with HIV or treat HIV-infected individuals.
Manuel Elkin Patarroyo Murillo is a Colombian Professor of Pathology and Immunology who made the world's first attempt to create a synthetic vaccine against the protozoal parasite Plasmodium falciparum, the cause of severe malaria, and responsible for the death of ~1.5 million people per year in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa.
Amyloids are aggregates of proteins characterised by a fibrillar morphology of typically 7–13 nm in diameter, a beta sheet (β-sheet) secondary structure and ability to be stained by particular dyes, such as Congo red. In the human body, amyloids have been linked to the development of various diseases. Pathogenic amyloids form when previously healthy proteins lose their normal structure and physiological functions (misfolding) and form fibrous deposits within and around cells. These protein misfolding and deposition processes disrupt the healthy function of tissues and organs.
Amyloid beta denotes peptides of 36–43 amino acids that are the main component of the amyloid plaques found in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. The peptides derive from the amyloid precursor protein (APP), which is cleaved by beta secretase and gamma secretase to yield Aβ in a cholesterol-dependent process and substrate presentation. Aβ molecules can aggregate to form flexible soluble oligomers which may exist in several forms. It is now believed that certain misfolded oligomers can induce other Aβ molecules to also take the misfolded oligomeric form, leading to a chain reaction akin to a prion infection. The oligomers are toxic to nerve cells. The other protein implicated in Alzheimer's disease, tau protein, also forms such prion-like misfolded oligomers, and there is some evidence that misfolded Aβ can induce tau to misfold.
Amyloid-beta precursor protein (APP) is an integral membrane protein expressed in many tissues and concentrated in the synapses of neurons. It functions as a cell surface receptor and has been implicated as a regulator of synapse formation, neural plasticity, antimicrobial activity, and iron export. It is coded for by the gene APP and regulated by substrate presentation. APP is best known as the precursor molecule whose proteolysis generates amyloid beta (Aβ), a polypeptide containing 37 to 49 amino acid residues, whose amyloid fibrillar form is the primary component of amyloid plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients.
Bapineuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that acts on the nervous system and may have potential therapeutic value for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and possibly glaucoma. However, in 2012 it failed to produce significant cognitive improvements in patients in two major trials, despite lowering key biomarkers of AD, amyloid brain plaque and hyperphosphorylated tau protein in CSF.
Insulin-degrading enzyme, also known as IDE, is an enzyme.
Kim D. Janda is an American chemist who studies on medicinal chemistry, molecular biology, immunology and neuropharmacology.
Immunocontraception is the use of an animal's immune system to prevent it from fertilizing offspring. Contraceptives of this type are not currently approved for human use.
Solanezumab is a monoclonal antibody being investigated by Eli Lilly as a neuroprotector for patients with Alzheimer's disease. The drug originally attracted extensive media coverage proclaiming it a breakthrough, but it has failed to show promise in Phase III trials.
The 2009 swine flu pandemic vaccines were influenza vaccines developed to protect against the pandemic H1N1/09 virus. These vaccines either contained inactivated (killed) influenza virus, or weakened live virus that could not cause influenza. The killed virus was injected, while the live virus was given as a nasal spray. Both these types of vaccine were produced by growing the virus in chicken eggs. Around three billion doses were produced, with delivery in November 2009.
Peptide-based synthetic vaccines, also called epitope vaccines, are subunit vaccines made from peptides. The peptides mimic the epitopes of the antigen that triggers direct or potent immune responses. Peptide vaccines can not only induce protection against infectious pathogens and non-infectious diseases but also be utilized as therapeutic cancer vaccines, where peptides from tumor-associated antigens are used to induce an effective anti-tumor T-cell response.
The Alzheimer's disease biomarkers are neurochemical indicators used to assess the risk or presence of the disease. The biomarkers can be used to diagnose Alzheimer's disease (AD) in a very early stage, but they also provide objective and reliable measures of disease progress. It is imperative to diagnose AD disease as soon as possible, because neuropathologic changes of AD precede the symptoms by years. It is well known that amyloid beta (Aβ) is a good indicator of AD disease, which has facilitated doctors to accurately pre-diagnose cases of AD. When Aβ peptide is released by proteolytic cleavage of amyloid-beta precursor protein, some Aβ peptides that are solubilized are detected in CSF and blood plasma which makes AB peptides a promising candidate for biological markers. It has been shown that the amyloid beta biomarker shows 80% or above sensitivity and specificity, in distinguishing AD from dementia. It is believed that amyloid beta as a biomarker will provide a future for diagnosis of AD and eventually treatment of AD.
A universal flu vaccine is a flu vaccine that is effective against all influenza strains regardless of the virus sub type, antigenic drift or antigenic shift. Hence it should not require modification from year to year. As of 2021 no universal flu vaccine had been approved for general use, several were in development, and one was in clinical trial.
Donanemab (USAN; development code LY3002813) is a biological drug in trial to treat early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. There is no cure or treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Donanemab has shown positive results in Eli Lilly and Co.’s first two trials. Donanemab was developed by the company Eli Lilly and Co, used in past and current trials as a possible source of treatment for the heterogeneous condition Alzheimer’s disease. Donanemab, also known as N3pG, is an antibody produced in mice that targets an abnormal protein, amyloid beta (Aβ), that is produced in the bone marrow. Whilst the cause of Alzheimer’s disease is still unknown, great advances in amyloid pathology have led to a relation between the quantity of Aβ peptides and the development of Alzheimer's disease. Aβ peptides are deposited in the brain and when in excess will bind together to create a protein plaque. Donanemab targets this protein plaque, clearing the excess protein which causes a burden in the brain.
EpiVacCorona is a peptide-based vaccine against COVID-19 developed by the VECTOR center of Virology. The lack of protective effectiveness of EpiVacCorona, which is still in use in Russia, has been reported in scientific literature and in the media. The vaccine consists of three chemically synthesized peptides that are conjugated to a large carrier protein. This protein is a fusion product of a viral nucleocapsid protein and a bacterial MBP protein. A phase three clinical trial to show whether or not the vaccine can protect people against COVID-19 was launched in November 2020 with more than three thousand participants. The facts of the end of the trial and the result of the trial have not been made public.
UB-612 is a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by United Biomedical, Inc. Asia, and Vaxxinity, Inc. It is a peptide vaccine.
References
- ↑ Patarroyo, Manuel E. (May 30, 2007). "Synthetic vaccine update: Applying lessons learned from recent SPf66 malarial vaccine physicochemical, structural and immunological characterization". Vaccine. 25, 22 (22): 4487–4501. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2007.03.016. PMID 17403557.
- ↑ Young Rojahn, Susan (May 14, 2013). "Synthetic Biology Could Speed Flu Vaccine Production". MIT Technology Review.
- ↑ http://www.bioworld.com/content/alz-players-stand-united-new-beta-bids-also-fall%5B%5D
- ↑ Wang, Chang Yi; Wang, Pei-Ning; Chiu, Ming-Jang; Finstad, Connie L; Lin, Feng; Lynn, Shugene; Tai, Yuan-Hung; De Fang, Xin; Zhao, Kesheng; Hung, Chung-Ho; Tseng, Yiting; Peng, Wen-Jiun; Wang, Jason; Yu, Chih-Chieh; Kuo, Be-Sheng; Frohna, Paul A (2017). "UB-311, a novel UBITh ® amyloid β peptide vaccine for mild Alzheimer's disease". Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions. 3 (2): 262–272. doi:10.1016/j.trci.2017.03.005. PMC 5651432 . PMID 29067332.
