Penn Medical School researchers have discovered that using an immune-system gene to enhance a vaccine used to study HIV can help prevent simian HIBV, according to a report released last week.
When given a vaccine enhanced with a molecule called Interleukin-15, macaque monkeys had greater protection against simian HIV than those with an unmodified vaccine.
The study illustrates that the inclusion of specific immune adjuvants, or helpers, can improve the effectiveness of the DNA vaccine.
"DNA vaccine technology has great promise for the development of vaccines and immune therapeutics for a variety of infectious diseases and cancers," senior study author David Weiner, professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Penn, wrote in a press release.
While previous studies have established that the technology can induce immune responses safely, "improving the immune potency of this platform is critical for further development in humans," she said.
Next, Weiner's team will study macaques to determine exactly how the vaccine protected them from contracting the virus.
They also plan to ensure that no remnants of the virus are hiding in specific immune compartments. The HIV Vaccine Trials Network will then test the approach for safety and immunogenicity in humans.
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