Objective
Vaccinia virus recombinants engineered to express foreign genes have great potential as new live vaccines against infectious diseases. Modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) is a promising human vaccine candidate due to its restricted host range, avirulence in animal models, excellent safety record as a smallpox vaccine and potent immunogenicity. This proposal intends to investigate various aspects of vaccinia virus in order to improve and develop MVA as a recombinant human vaccine.
Safety of recombinant vaccines. The molecular cell biology of MVA will be investigated and vaccinia virus proteins required for virus assembly and entry into cells will be characterised. This will lead to the identification of proteins that can be deleted from the viral genome and restrict even further the replication and dissemination of MVA in vivo. The role of vaccinia proteins that modulate the host immune response, such as soluble cytokine receptors or proteins that protect infected cells from interferon effects, will be investigated in the infected host. Deletion of these vaccinia genes may increase the susceptibility of vaccinia recomhinant to the attack of the immune system and also restlict virus spread.
Immunogenicity of recombinant vaccines. Vaccinia recombinants that may be used in human medicine will probably have deficient replication, thus the immunogenicity of the expressed foreign antigens will need to be enhanced. The research project will use different approaches: i) to display foreign antigens at the surface of virions; ii) to determine the inlluence of vaccinia immunomodulatory proteins; and iii) to express host cytokines that can promote immune responses.
These studies will lead to the development of safer and more immunogenic MVA recombinants, which will be tested as candidate vaccines against HIV, influenza and malaria parasite. Clinical trials with vaccinia MVA are being prepared, therefore there is an urgent need to understand at the molecular level the replication of vaccinia virus MVA and its interaction with the host immune system. This will not only improve MVA as a recombinant vaccine but will also allow us to control any problems that may arise in the field.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases malaria
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases RNA viruses influenza
- medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs vaccines
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
OX1 3RE OXFORD
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.