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A team of researchers from Janssen Pharmaceuticals and US scientists has developed a new DNA-based vaccine that helps protect elderly patients from influenza. Older people, in particular, belong to the risk group because they can only develop a few antibodies due to immunosenescence, which can reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine. The team has succeeded in designing an effective antibody against various strains. This is done with the help of llamas.
Llamas are more commonly known as having lots of money and spitting mates. For the research team, however, gregarious animals are more numerous because they can produce 4-in-1 antibody against the flu. Animals have the advantage of producing small antibodies. Llamas were infected with different influenza viruses and developed largely neutralizing antibodies. These were taken by researchers and produced from a synthetic antibody. To this end, a gene has been constructed that expresses a protein from nanobodies derived from the four llamas antibodies. At the next step, the modified gene was packaged in a benign virus – an adenovirus.
The super-antibody was tested as a nasal spray on test mice. The animals were infected with 59 different influenza viruses – which can also cause an infection in humans. Rodents have also been treated with viruses that are usually fatal, but thanks to vaccination, almost all mice have survived. The synthetic vaccine successfully repelled the strains of virus tested. The laboratory animals had formed antibodies for several months. This allows a nasal vaccine per influenza season, but does not produce a new antibody every year, even though influenza viruses are genetically modified.
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