Development of anthrax DNA vaccines.

Abstract

Over 120 years ago, Pasteur and Greenfield developed an in vitro procedure for producing a live-attenuated Bacillus anthracis bacterial culture capable of protecting livestock from anthrax disease. Since then, anthrax has become one of the best characterized bacterial pathogens with regard to mechanism of toxicity and vaccine development. Most developments have used live-attenuated strains, bacterial supernatants or protein subunit approaches. Recently, novel plasmid DNA (pDNA) approaches to a safe and effective anthrax vaccine have been proposed. This review summarizes the history of anthrax, the need for new vaccines and recent developments in pDNA-based vaccines, leading to the initiation of a human phase I clinical trial in a significantly shorter timeframe than in traditional vaccine development.

• Authors: Marilyn E Ferrari, Gary Hermanson, Alain Rolland
• Journal: Current opinion in molecular therapeutics (Curr Opin Mol Ther) Vol. 6 Issue 5 Pg. 506-12 (Oct 2004) ISSN: 1464-8431 [Print] England
• PMID: 15537052 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Anthrax Vaccines
• Vaccines, DNA

Topics

• Animals
• Anthrax (genetics, immunology, microbiology, prevention & control)
• Anthrax Vaccines (genetics, immunology)
• Bacillus anthracis (pathogenicity)
• Clinical Trials, Phase I as Topic
• Genetic Vectors (genetics)
• Humans
• Vaccines, DNA (genetics, immunology)