Method To Inactivate Viruses For Vaccine Development
Background:
The National Cancer Institute's Nanobiology Program is seeking
statements of capability or interest from parties interested in
collaborative research to further develop, evaluate, or
commercialize the use of hydrophobic crosslinkers for vaccine
development using enveloped viruses, such as HIV.
Technology:
This invention describes a method of inactivating enveloped viruses
by hydrophobic photoactivatable chemical crosslinking compounds and
detergent treatment. The inactivated viruses may be used as
vaccines against the diseases caused by those viruses or as
reagents in experimental procedures that require inactivated viral
particles. The compounds diffuse into the hydrophobic region
of lipid bilayers of biological membranes, such as viral
membranes. When irradiated with UV, the compounds bind to
proteins and lipids within the hydrophobic region resulting in
crosslinks within the membrane and inactivation of the virus.
This crosslinked membrane is partially resistant to detergent
solubilization. Use of this crosslinker, followed by
detergent treatment may result in preservation of the structural
integrity and therefore immunogenicity of proteins on the exterior
of the inactivated, detergent-treated virus. The additional
detergent step effectively eliminates the infectivity of any
residual viral particles that are not adequately crosslinked.
Further R&D Needed:
- Interested collaborators are invited to provide statements for
proposed in vitro or in vivo studies using various enveloped
viruses
- Some examples of potential collaborative studies include, but
are not limited to:
- Testing of the crosslinked, detergent-treated HIV-1 virus (or
other enveloped viruses) for preservation of surface epitopes
- Analyzing the properties of the crosslinked and uncrosslinked
HIV-1 virus (or other enveloped viruses) after detergent
treatment
- Performing Northern blot analysis on the crosslinked and
uncrosslinked virus to determine if the RNA has been
crosslinked
- Studying the mechanism behind the UV activation of various
azide-containing aromatic derivatives within lipid bilayers
- Mass spectrometry or other proteomic/lipidic analysis to
identify which proteins and/or lipids are crosslinked to each
other
- In vivo testing of inactivated enveloped viruses in animal
models
R&D Status: Pre-clinical
development (in vitro proof-of-concept)
IP Status:
- U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/025,424 filed 01 Feb
2008
- U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/088,294 filed 12 Aug
2008
Value Proposition:
- Novel method of inactivating enveloped viruses
- Ability to develop vaccines for HIV and other enveloped
viruses
Contact Information:
John D. Hewes, Ph.D.
NCI Technology Transfer Center
Tel: 301-435-3121
Email: hewesj@mail.nih.gov
Please refer to advertisement # 772
Revised 11/7/2008
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