Vaccines and Methods of Treating Drug-Resistant HIV-1 and Hepatitis B Viruses
Description of Invention:
This technology relates to methods for lowering a viral load of a virus where the virus causes a chronic viral infection and is resistant to an antiviral drug. The method comprises administering to a host a medicament comprising an antiviral drug to restrict the intracellular multiplication of the virus and that is capable of selecting for a predetermined antiviral drug-resistant mutation in a viral protein. The medicament further comprises a synthetic peptide that comprises the predetermined antiviral drug-resistant mutation and at least six amino acid residues flanking that mutation that are identical to the amino acid sequence of the viral protein of the antiviral drug-resistant virus. The synthetic peptide induces a cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response specific for cells infected with the antiviral drug-resistant virus. The immunostimulating peptide may be further improved by epitope-enhancement for inducing specific CTLs. The antiviral protection against drug-resistant virus shown by compositions of the present invention and mediated by human HLA-restricted CTL has not been previously achieved. Further, the compositions and methods of this technology are useful to target many viruses that can develop antiviral drug resistance, including HIV-1, HIV-2, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, and human herpesviruses.
Inventors:
Andrew Catanzaro (NCI) Jay A. Berzofsky (NCI) Robert Yarchoan (NCI) Takahiro Okazaki (NCI) James T. Snyder II (NCI) Samuel Broder
Patent Status:
DHHS Reference No. E-137-2003/1 --
U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/655,984 filed 22 Feb 2005
PCT Application No. PCT/US06/06563 filed 22 Feb 2006, which published as WO 2006/091798 on 31 Aug 2006
U.S. Patent Application No. 11/816,704 filed 20 Aug 2007
For Additional Information Please Contact: John Stansberry Ph.D.
NIH Office of Technology Transfer
6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 325
Rockville, MD 20852-3804
Phone: (301)435-5236
Email: stansbej@mail.nih.gov
Fax: (301) 402-0220
