Research from J.Y. Cheng and co-researchers in the area of DNA vaccines published
2009 JUL 8 - (NewsRx.com) -- "Skin, the biggest organ of human body, contains antigen presenting cells such as Langerhans cells (LCs) that modulate various immune responses. The skin therefore is an ideal venue to effect the transcutaneous immunization (TCI)," investigators in Taiwan report. "Most current immunization procedures make use of needles and syringes for vaccine administration, which however have raised many safety concerns. To overcome the stratum corneum barrier of the skin without carrying out any skin penetration, cationic liposomes, DC-Chol/DOPE and DOTAP, were employed as vehicles for the transdermal antigen DNA delivery in this study. The optimal ratio of liposomes to DNAs for maximal transfection efficiency was determined to be 5:1 (w/w) for both formulas in BHK-21 cell transfection assays. This ratio was applied to lipoplex in tests on the dorsal skin of hair-removed mice. Reporter genes were found expressed in epidermis and spleen over 3 days. C3H/HeN mice transcutaneously immunized with the skin patch containing liposome-pCJ-3/ME (lipoplex-patch; pCJ-3/ME expressing the whole membrane and envelope protein genes of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV)) can induce effective and protective antibodies against the infection with 50 times the 50% lethal dose (LD50) of JEV," wrote J.Y. Cheng and colleagues. The researchers concluded: "The developed lipoplex-patch DNA vaccines have proven to be simple and noninvasive, by which the antibodies incurred provide marked therapeutic effects in test animals." Cheng and colleagues published their study in the Journal of Controlled Release (Transcutaneous immunization by lipoplex-patch based DNA vaccines is effective vaccination against Japanese encephalitis virus infection. Journal of Controlled Release, 2009;135(3):242-249). For additional information, contact C.J. Wu, National Taiwan Ocean University, Dept. of Food Science, 2 Pei Ning Rd., Chilung, Taiwan. The publisher of the Journal of Controlled Release can be contacted at: Elsevier Science BV, PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, Netherlands. Keywords: Taiwan, Arbovirus Encephalitis, Biotechnology, Central Nervous System Disease, Controlled Release, DNA Research, DNA Vaccines, Encephalitis, Gene Therapy, Immunization, Japanese Encephalitis, Medical Device, Transdermal, Treatment, Vaccination, Viral, Virus. This article was prepared by Vaccine Weekly editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2009, Vaccine Weekly via NewsRx.com.
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