Search results for "vaccines"

A mid-term estimate of 2018/2019 vaccine effectiveness to prevent laboratory confirmed A(H1N1)pdm09 and A(H3N2) influenza cases in Sicily (Italy)

2019

Abstract Influenza season started in Italy during the month of October 2018, approaching the epidemic peak in January 2019. This report aim to explore the mid-term virologic surveillance data of the 2018–2019 influenza season in Sicily and to estimate the effectiveness of seasonal influenza vaccine (VE) against A(H1N1)pdm09 and A(H3N2) influenza viruses. A test-negative design was used to evaluate influenza VE. In Sicily, almost all influenza infections were sustained by influenza type A viruses, of which 62.3% were A(H3N2) and 36.3% A(H1N1)pdm09. A reduction of laboratory confirmed influenza cases in Sicilian population immunized against influenza were observed. In particular, an overall s…

Synthesis of tumor-associated glycopeptide antigens for the development of tumor-selective vaccines

2004

In contrast to normal cells, the glycoprotein profile on epithelial tumor cells is distinctly altered. Due to an incomplete formation of the glycan side-chains resulting from a premature sialylation, additional peptide epitopes become accessible to the immune system in mucin-type glycoproteins on tumor cells. These tumor-associated structure alterations constitute the basis for a selective immunological attack on cancer cells. For the construction of immunostimulating antigens, glycopeptide partial structures from the mucins MUC1 and MUC4 carrying the tumor-associated sialyl-T(N), alpha2,6-sialyl-T and alpha2,3-sialyl-T antigens have been synthesized. Employing different linkers such as the…

Biomimetic synthesis of the tumor-associated (2,3)-sialyl-T antigen and its incorporation into glycopeptide antigens from the mucins MUC1 and MUC4.

2004

Glycoproteins on epithelial tumor cells often exhibit aberrant glycosylation profiles. The incomplete formation of the glycan side chains resulting from a down-regulated glucosamine transfer and a premature sialylation results in additional peptide epitopes, which become accessible to the immune system in mucin-type glycoproteins. These cancer-specific structure alterations are considered to be a promising basis for selective immunological attack on tumor cells. Among the tumor-associated saccharide antigens, the (2,3)-sialyl-T antigen has been identified as the most abundant glycan, found in several different carcinoma cell lines. According to a linear biomimetic strategy, the (2,3)-sialyl…

IMMUNOGENICITY OF AN ACELLULAR PERTUSSIS VACCINE COMPOSED OF GENETICALLY INACTIVATED PERTUSSIS TOXIN COMBINED WITH FILAMENTOUS HEMAGGLUTININ AND PERT…

1993

We studied the immunogenicity of an acellular pertussis vaccine composed of genetically detoxified pertussis toxin (PT-9K/129G), filamentous haemagglutinin, and a 69-kilodalton protein, pertactin, in 30 children aged 12 to 24 months and in 80 infants aged 2 to 4 months. A significant increase of the neutralizing titer and of the titers against pertussis toxin, filamentous hemagglutinin, and pertactin, as determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, was achieved after three doses of vaccine in all the children; a significant increase of these antibody titers was obtained in 100%, 96.1%, 93.5%, and 98.7% of the infants, respectively.

Effect of priming with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids combined with whole-cell pertussis vaccine or with acellular pertussis vaccine on the safety an…

1995

Objective: To evaluate the safety and the immunogenicity of a booster dose of recombinant acellular pertussis vaccine combined with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids (DTaP, Biocine SpA) in 15- to 21-month-old children primed in infancy with either whole-cell diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTwP) vaccine or DTaP vaccine. Design: Open-label second phase of a double-masked, controlled trail, with masked analysis of serum samples. Participants and setting: Three hundred fifty children, 15 to 21 months of age, who had been primed at 2, 4, and 6 months of age with either three doses of DTaP vaccine (n = 173) or DTwP vaccine (n = 177). The children were enrolled in eight vaccination centers in Italy. I…

Fully synthetic vaccines consisting of tumor-associated MUC1 glycopeptides and a lipopeptide ligand of the Toll-like receptor 2.

2010

Transcriptional targeting of dendritic cells for gene therapy using the promoter of the cytoskeletal protein fascin.

2003

Strong cell-type-specific promoters are basic tools in gene therapy allowing for novel applications and focused strategies by transcriptionally targeting gene expression to selected cells. In immunotherapy, dendritic cells (DC) are of central importance, since they represent the principal inducers of immune responses. Here we describe isolation and use of the promoter of the murine actin-bundling protein fascin to target transcriptionally gene expression to cutaneous DC. Using the reporter gene enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP), we demonstrate that the fascin promoter mediates a strong antigen expression that is restricted to mature DC. DNA vaccination with antigen-encoding expressi…

Transcriptional targeting of dendritic cells in gene gun-mediated DNA immunization favors the induction of type 1 immune responses

2003

Cutaneous dendritic cells (DC) are pivotal for the elicitation of antigen-specific immune responses following gene gun-mediated biolistic transfection of the skin. We transcriptionally targeted transgene expression to DC using vectors containing the murine fascin promoter (pFascin) to control antigen production and compared the immune response elicited with conventional DNA immunization using plasmid constructs with the ubiquitously active CMV promoter (pCMV). Biolistic transfection with pFascin initiated a marked type 1 immune response characterized by the occurrence of a large population of IFN-gamma-producing T helper (Th) cells in spleen and draining lymph nodes. Consistently, immunoglo…

A Trans-amplifying RNA Vaccine Strategy for Induction of Potent Protective Immunity

2019

Here, we present a potent RNA vaccine approach based on a novel bipartite vector system using trans-amplifying RNA (taRNA). The vector cassette encoding the vaccine antigen originates from an alphaviral self-amplifying RNA (saRNA), from which the replicase was deleted to form a transreplicon. Replicase activity is provided in trans by a second molecule, either by a standard saRNA or an optimized non-replicating mRNA (nrRNA). The latter delivered 10- to 100-fold higher transreplicon expression than the former. Moreover, expression driven by the nrRNA-encoded replicase in the taRNA system was as efficient as in a conventional monopartite saRNA system. We show that the superiority of nrRNA- ov…

Estudios epidemiológicos y virológicos sobre la poliomielitis en Valencia (1959-1969) = Epidemiological and virological studies into the poliomyeliti…

2009

Los estudios sobre el virus de la polio comenzaron en Valencia en 1959 de la mano del microbiólogo Vicente Sanchis-Bayarri Vaillant. Tras su formación en virología en la Universidad de Rochester y en el Instituto Pasteur, puso en marcha un laboratorio de cultivos celulares en la Facultad de Medicina de Valencia, en donde desarrolló una técnica diagnóstica nueva para el virus de la polio. Por otra parte, se llevaron a cabo estudios epidemiológicos antes y después de la campaña de vacunación de 1963, que demostraron la eficacia de la vacuna oral de Sabin y su inocuidad.// Els estudis sobre el virus de la pòlio van començar a València en 1959 de la mà del microbiòleg Vicente Sanchis-Bayarri Va…