LIAI researchers discover new cellular mechanism that will significantly advance vaccine d...(which antigens (virus pieces) trigger an...)

Date:6/16/2008

which antigens (virus pieces) trigger an antibody attack to develop vaccines. Vaccines work by exposing the individual to a milder form of a particular virus, so that the body makes antibodies to fight off the virus. Consequently, if the individual is later exposed to the actual virus, the body already has an army of antibodies built up that can fight off this stronger viral attack before it can overtake the body and cause sickness.

With the knowledge gained from the LIAI study, scientists will now be able to more easily figure out the most important viral pieces to focus on in developing a vaccine. "The fact that it requires two components to fight the (virus) pathogen is important to understand," Dr. Crotty said. "So now when we find out which viral pieces are producing a strong response from the B cells, we can cross check that against the viral pieces eliciting a good response from the CD4 T cells. The point at which these virus pieces cross in other words where the same piece is eliciting a response from both the B cells and CD4 T cells then we know we have found our best candidate for creating a vaccine."

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Contact: Bonnie Ward contact@liai.org 619-303-3160 La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology Source:Eurekalert

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