Viral vectors (Dr. Kozak) Flashcards
Why do we use virus as vectors?
able to mount a robust immune response –> long lasting
What needs to be balanced when making a viral vector?
i) amount of immune repsonse it produces
ii) attenuated virulence (cannot be too strong or else have symtpoms on ppl)
What happened in 1950s in viral vectors?
first attenuated viruses for polio and influenza for vaccine use
What happened in 1985 in viral vectors?
introduce foerign gene HbsAg to vaccinia virus
What happened in 1990s in viral vectors?
Develop DNA plasmid as vector
What happened in 2000s in viral vectors?
heterologous prime boosting, replicons, virus like particles (safer)
Things to consider when desgining a viral vector
i) promoters for virus
ii) tropism and host receptor (entry mechanism)
iii) carrying capacity of foreign genes
iv) exposure in population
v) delivery to individuals
vi) attenuation
Difference between human adenovirus and poxvirus
i) Promoter: much more in Adv, only poxviral promoters in poxvirus
ii) Host receptor: Adv use Coxsackie adenovirus receptor, complex mech for poxvirus
iii) carrying capacity: much more (25kb) in poxvirus
iv) Exposure: high in Adv, low in poxvirus
Similarities between human adenovirus and poxvirus as viral vector
both have broad tropism
Why we need to attenuate the virus before using as vector?
i) prevent disease (especially in immunocompromised grp)
ii) deleting genes can increase carrying capacity
What genes are usually removed in virus for attenuation?
genes that help evade or counteract host immune response
Traditional methods of attenuation
do lots of passages of virus in cell lines or animals
–> try to lower immune response through lots of passages
con of using traditional method of attenuation
time consuming, inefficient
example of using traditional method of attenuation
vaccinia virus unable to replicate in mammalian cells after more than 500 passages
Better method of attenuation
selectively target key genes through deletion, recombination or generating replicon-like system
Things to consider when doing attenuation
need to look into possible side effects of deleting a gene
–> may reduce immunogenicity
Example of possible side effects of deleting a gene
E3L in vaccinia –> inhibits interferon response
–> when removed, induce interferon response
BUT, low B cell response, less antibodies
Ways to deliver viral vectors
IV, oral, intramuscular, nasal, aerolisized…
Why veterinay vaccines preferred over human vaccine?
i) lower safety concerns
ii) reduce disease spreading to human
iii) allow identification between vaccinated from infected animals
iv) easier route of administration (food, drinking water…)
Common route of admin for veterinary vaccines
i) admin in food or drinking water
ii) aerosol spray
iii) in ovo (injected in eggs)
What happened to HIV vaccine trial for Adv-5?
increased risk of getting HIV after vaccination
Why did this happen in HIV vaccine trial for Adv-5?
i) Pre-exposed to Adv-5
–> more target cells to infect + inflammatory environment to help
ii) uncircumcised (higher risk of HIV exposure)
iii) alteration to epithelial cell barrier with inflammatory response to vector (e.g. increase CCR5+ T cells)
What are solutions to pre-existing immunity?
i) use novel vectors
ii) use rare serotypes
iii) use animal viruses as vector
iv) modify route of immunity
E.g. of using animal virus as vectors to help with pre-existing immunity
Chimp adenovirus in AZ covid 19 vaccine
E.g. of using novel vector to help with pre-existing immunity
VSV
E.g. of rare serotypes to help with pre-existing immunity
HAdV, AAV
E.g. of virus more susceptible to pre-existing immunity
human adenovirus, herpesviruses
What does heterologous prime boosting mean?
combining two vaccines where on their own is not effective
Example of heterologous prime boosting
Thai HIV Vaccine trial
–> efficacy 33% after 3 years
Examples of adenovirus vectors used as vaccines
i) Adv-5 –> Covid
ii) Adv-26 –> Covid
iii) ChAdv –> Covid, Ebola
What did researchers do to lower the risk of pre-existing immunity in Adv-5?
use alternate route of delivery
What is ChAdV used in vaccine?
Covid, Ebola
What is Adv-5 used in vaccine?
Covid
What is Adv-26 used in vaccine?
Covid
Two ways to administer gene therapy
i) in vivo, by injecting viral vector through IV
ii) Ex vivo, by extracting patient’s cells, transform and grow in culture
–> then introduced back to patient
Things to consider when choosing vector for gene therapy
i) need long term gene expression
ii) tissue tropism
iii) carrying capacity
iv) potential for integration
v) toxicity
Describe the Jesse Gelsinger Story
- have disease in which she cannot break down ammonia in body
- died a couple of days after getting AdV vector with functional OTC gene
Why did Jesse Gelsinger pass away after receiving gene therapy?
massive inflammatory response to vector
–> organ failure
What went wrong in Jesse Gelsinger’s case?
i)informed consent not done properly
ii) didn’t tell family about experiments where animals died from therapy
iii) lead researcher had financial stake in therapy
iv) patient had too high ammonia levels
–> should be excluded
Why does our immune system also attack viral vector?
unable to distinguish between viral infection and vector for treatment
–> still trigger immune response
Where does adeno-associated viruses integrate into our genome?
locus AAVS1
Features of genome of adeno-associated viruses
i) flanked by 2 T-shaped inverted terminal repeats
ii) single stranded
Why is AAV a good vector?
i) only need one viral factor for replication (inverted genome repeats + promoter)
ii) ITR flanked genome can be cloned into plasmid + modified
iii) its lifecycle allow intro of novel genes into host cells
iv) use viral capsid to determine AAV tropism (helps gene therapy)
v) can replace viral genome with gene of interest
limitation of using AAV as viral vector
i) its capacity to carry genesis small (less than 5kb)
ii) re-administration might not be allowed as viral capsid generate humoral immunity