Herpes against herpes
On the basis of a genetically modified virus, a vaccine against herpes was created
It has been successfully tested on mice and guinea pigs
Molecular biologists have created a prototype of a genital herpes vaccine based on a genetically modified form of the herpes simplex virus, which causes bubbles on the lips. Its effect has been successfully tested on guinea pigs. An article with the results of the study was published by the scientific journal npj Vaccines (Bernstein et al., The R2 non-neuroinvasive HSV-1 vaccine affords protection from genital HSV-2 infections in a guinea pig model).
"Existing herpes vaccines are based on fragments of virus proteins or its weakened forms and work quite poorly for several reasons at once. As a rule, protein fragments contain few antigens, and the weakened form of the virus is so weak that it does not cause a good immune response. Our R2 platform is devoid of these problems," said one of the vaccine developers, a professor at the University of Nebraska (USA) Gary Picard.
The herpes virus causes one of the most common human infections. There are several different types of this virus, they affect different parts of the body. For example, the HHV1 virus causes a cold on the lips, HHV2 penetrates into the genitals, and the HHV6 and HHV7 viruses cause pseudocrush – a short fever and rash.
For quite a long time, these viruses, especially HHV1, were considered harmless enough. However, scientists have recently discovered that these pathogens can provoke Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, encephalitis, genital cancer and other diseases. There are no vaccines and medicines for herpes yet, that is, if the virus has reached the human nervous system, it remains in his body for life.
The first step to a vaccine
In a new study, Picard and his colleagues have taken a big step towards solving the problem of herpes. They have created a genetically modified form of the herpes simplex virus (HHV1), which cannot penetrate the nerve cells of humans and animals and hide there from the immune system.
Recently, molecular biologists have discovered that the pUL37 protein, which is present in the particles of all varieties of the herpes virus, is responsible for solving this problem. Having studied its structure, biologists have identified a vulnerable site, R2. If you make a certain mutation into it, then HHV1 can no longer infect neurons, while it does not affect its other characteristics.
Scientists have tested the work of this genetically modified virus on mice and guinea pigs. Experiments have shown that the experimental vaccine successfully protected the rodents from infection, and also dramatically reduced the number of copies of the virus that the skin and other tissues of infected individuals produced. Interestingly, the vaccine protected rodents not only from HHV1, but also from HHV2: it significantly reduced the number of visible traces of the virus and the number of particles produced.
"It is very important that the number of virus particles released has greatly decreased. The body of herpes virus carriers continues to produce new HHV1 or HHV2 particles, even if there are no rashes and other visible traces of infection on their lips and skin. Because of this, the infected continue to spread the virus," Picard said.
According to the biologist, in the near future his team will begin to develop a similar vaccine based on HHV2. Scientists hope that it will be even more effective than its counterpart based on the mutated form of HHV1. Thanks to this, it will be possible to protect many people from the negative consequences of chronic infection with genital herpes.
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