Lipid Sciences, Inc., proposes to use its proprietary solvent treatment technology to develop a modified SARS viral particle to use as a prophylactic vaccine. SARS has the potential to reemerge with greater force at any time; therefore, a preventative vaccine would be highly desirable to protect both global health and economies. Our vaccine production method potentially could provide improved antigenicity and safety, general applicability to all types of lipid-enveloped viruses, simultaneous applicability to many strains of a single virus type, and the potential to prepare patient specific vaccines. We have previously demonstrated that our solvent treatment method increases humoral and cellular response to SIV in a mouse model, and is protective in a duck hepatitis B model. We will test the ability of solvent-treated virus, which has been subsequently subjected to chemical inactivation, to raise neutralizing antibodies and produce a cellular immune response in mice. Specific Aims are (1) Optimize proprietary solvent treatment method for SARS virus based on previous virus experience and evaluate native viral protein structure and viral envelope changes post treatment, and (2) Test ability of solvent and chemically treated virions to produce an immune response in mice, and test for production of neutralizing antibodies and cellular response.
Thesaurus Terms: SARS virus, solvent extraction, technology /technique development, vaccine development, virion cellular immunity, immune response, neutralizing antibody, protein structure, vaccine evaluation, virus envelope, virus infection mechanism, virus protein biotechnology, laboratory mouse
