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The emerging Zika virus is a particular threat to pregnant women. The disease can be transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito and is badociated with devastating birth defects, such as microcephaly. No vaccine approved for the virus exists.
The Department of Defense is trying to speed up the process of finding an effective vaccine, especially for pregnant women. As part of a program called Congress-led Medical Research Program, DOD is allocating $ 2 million to the Texas Biomedical Research Institute over the next three years to study a promising experimental vaccine against Zika.
If there is anything we can do to intervene with a pregnant woman and her fetus who are at risk, this is certainly something we want to look into. I think most of the work that's going on right now is about how we get involved during pregnancy, because that's where the risk is highest. "
Professor Jean Patterson, Ph.D., principal investigator of the study
She describes a "sense of urgency" in the medical community to find a way to protect this vulnerable population.
The DOD supports research on many tropical diseases and is of particular interest to Zika, as members of pregnant support services can be sent to areas of the world where Zika is endemic.
Texas Biomed's partner in the project is Marcia Blackman, Ph.D., from the Trudeau Institute in New York, who also holds the position of IP.
Marmosets housed at the Southwest National Primate Research Center on the Texas Biomed campus will serve as animal models for the study. According to Patterson, these small nonhuman primates work well for Zika research because they breed all year round and often have twins or triplets.
"We know a lot about the reproductive cycle of marmosets, particularly the placenta," said Dr. Patterson.
At the Trudeau Institute, researchers will work with a mouse model.
Human safety tests are underway on an inactivated formalin vaccine developed at the Walter Reed Army Research Institute. An inactivated vaccine, as opposed to a live vaccine, consists of virus particles that have been cultured and then killed with a chemical. The inactivated vaccine always creates an immune response.
However, this study is only one aspect of ongoing research. Animal testing is essential to evaluate the effectiveness of the vaccine. The vaccine and blood drawn from human subjects who have developed anti-Zika antibodies will be tested in animal models.
Animal testing has two purposes. First, scientists will examine the possibility that pregnant animals can be vaccinated before being exposed to Zika and be protected from any risk of contracting the virus. Second, by using antibody transfer from humans who have received the experimental vaccine, scientists will see if this method could protect animals already etched against virus transmission to the fetus in the uterus.
Zika is a flavivirus – in the same category as other vector-borne diseases such as West Nile, dengue fever and yellow fever. Other researchers around the world are trying to develop vaccines against Zika using different platforms such as DNA vaccines, live attenuated vaccines and adeno-badociated vaccines.
The Zika Vaccine Research Project is part of Texas Biomed's mission to eradicate the threat of infectious diseases and protect human health around the world.
Source:
Texas Biomedical Research Institute
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