Dual Potency Vaccine Protects Mice Against CMV

A team of virologists and molecular biologists has devised a novel strategy for developing a vaccine to protect against infection by human Cytomegalovirus (hCMV).
Investigators at the University of California, San Diego (USA) worked with a mouse model of human CMV. The mice were immunized with a vaccine that combined a stretch of DNA - to target T-cells to essential genes required for CMV replication – and with a killed virus that stimulated the animal's B-cells to generate an antibody response.
Results published in the July 2007 issue of the Journal of Virology revealed that when challenged with live CMV, the vaccine generated an immune response that protected the mice against both infection and development of disease by inhibiting the virus's ability to replicate and establish a persistent infection.
"Until now, scientists have not been able to develop a vaccine to protect against CMV,” said senior author Dr. Deborah H. Spector, professor of cellular and molecular medicine at the University of California, San Diego. "Using a two-pronged approach, we successfully created and tested a vaccine in a mouse model with CMV that shows enormous promise for re-directing the body's immune system, enabling it to fight the virus. This approach may also be valid for a number of diseases associated with persistent or latent infections, including all types of herpes-associated diseases, AIDS, or hepatitis.”


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