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Scientists from the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) conducted a survey during which they developed a new vaccine against the Zika virus, a virus that has developed in recent years and for which no vaccine is allowed to date.
The results of its development are published in the journal Scientific Reports, in an article signed in particular by Juan García-Arriaza and Mariano Esteban, of the National Center of Biotechnology, center of the CSIC, and Miguel Ángel Martín-Acebes, of the 39, National Institute. agricultural and food research and technology.
The new vaccine, called MVA-ZIKV, has been designed following the same strategy that was used previously by the authors for vaccines against diseases such as Ebola, chikungunya, hepatitis C and HIV – the search for this last began its phase of clinical trials. and the rest have been tested on animals.
Scientists have chosen key genes in Zika disease to activate the immune response and have them genetically engineered into the DNA of another virus playing the role of vector to reach the body's cells.
Specifically, researchers used the prM and E genes, the most important Zika virus, to activate immune responses in the body allowing the activation of T and B cells, key cells of defense against pathogens.
When these lymphocytes are activated, antibodies neutralizing the virus are produced, as well as cells called CD8 T that destroy the infected cells, explains Efe Mariano Esteban, adding that this confers a higher degree of protection.
"We have shown that immunizing mice with MVA-ZIKV stimulates the immune response against Zika virus by specifically activating CD8 T cells, as well as high levels of antibodies capable of neutralizing the virus," adds this scientist.
According to this new work, a single dose of MVA-ZIKV vaccine is able to control Zika virus infection in mice.
Promising results
Although there are already other candidate vaccines, no one has yet been cleared, according to the CSIC, which states that "the promising results of this work reinforce the possibility that MVA-ZIKV may to be considered to fight Zika ".
The next step, says Esteban, is to determine whether it is possible to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the virus and carry the vaccine to the clinical stage, "for which economic support is needed" .
"The vaccine has immunogenic properties and safety properties that make it an appropriate vaccine candidate to prevent the disease and its spread," concludes García-Arriaza.
DATA
Expansion Due to the strong expansion of the virus, the World Health Organization has declared the urgency of international public health in 2016.
Transmission This infection is mainly transmitted by the bite of the Aedes mosquito and its infection can cause serious neurological disorders, such as Guillain-Barré syndrome and microcephaly.
To come up The results open the door to tests on non-human primates confirming the effectiveness of the vaccine and future clinical trials on topics for which researchers hope to obtain funding.
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