Chimeric SHIV Gag Proteins Optimize T-Cell Response Against HIV Gag

HIV Gag has been included in nearly all HIV vaccines entering clinical trials because of its importance in SIV models and its correlation with protection in HIV-infected long-term non-progressors. However, HIV Gag has proven less immunogenic than Env in phase I clinical trial studies. Through sequence comparison, two regions in HIV Gag have been identified as contributing to the decreased immunogenicity observed for HIV Gag. Replacement of these regions with corresponding SIV sequences significantly increased the resulting T-cell response to HIV Gag in mice.

Increased Protein Expression Vector for Vaccine Applications

An expression vector with a unique promoter that results in higher level of protein expression than vectors currently in use is available for licensing from the NIH. The elevated levels of expression are achieved through use of a specific promoter, known as CMV/R, in which the Human T-Lymphotrophic Virus (HTLV-1) Long Terminal Repeat (LTR) R-U5 region is substituted for a portion of the intron downstream of the CMV immediate early region 1 enhancer (Barouch et al., 2005). Sequences of 95% or better homology to CMV/R can be used as well.

Micro-Dose Calibrator for Pre-clinical Radiotracer Assays

Molecular imaging is a disease-specific targeting modality that promises much more accurate diagnoses of serious diseases such as cancer and infections. Agents are being continually developed with a view to clinical translation, with several such therapies requiring measurement of very small doses. Currently, there is no way of accurately measuring small amounts of radioactivity used in many pre-clinical tracer studies, as on-the-market commercial dose calibrators measure at too high a dose range, typically at 10-1000 µCi and higher.

Henipavirus Vaccine

Henipaviruses are RNA viruses containing two high consequence human pathogens: Nipah virus (NiV) and Hendra virus (HeV). Both NiV and HeV infection in humans can result in severe respiratory disease and/or severe neurological manifestations, with mortality rates as high as 80%. There are currently no FDA-approved vaccines or therapeutics, and both NiV and HeV are considered dangerous emerging human pathogens with pandemic potential.

Monoclonal Antibody that Detects a Subclass of Dog IgG—for Diagnostic and Research Applications

CDC and collaborating researchers have developed a new monoclonal antibody that recognizes canine IgG (likely IgG4 subclass). This anti-dog IgG reagent could be used to detect antibody reactions to a variety of antigens and has potential use in a wide variety of diagnostic or research applications.

Monoclonal Antibodies for Detection of Rabies Virus Antigen and Confirmatory Rabies Diagnosis

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), rabies causes greater than 59,000 deaths every year in over 150 countries as of 2017. A rapid and reliable diagnostic test for rabies is critical for prophylaxis considerations in humans bitten by animals as well as for basic surveillance and animal rabies control programs. The World Organization of Animal Health (OIE) and WHO Expert Committee on Rabies recently approved the direct rapid immunohistochemical test (DRIT) for rabies diagnostics.

Stable Human Cell Lines Expressing Flavivirus Virus-Like Particles (VLPs) for Vaccine, Biologics, and Diagnostic Development

Flaviviruses such as Zika virus, dengue virus, West Nile virus, yellow fever virus, and Japanese encephalitis virus cause widespread illness and death throughout the world. Typically, flaviviruses get transmitted through the bite of infected mosquitoes and ticks.

Nucleic Acid Amplification Technique for Rapid Diagnostic Analysis

CDC researchers developed a simple target-specific isothermal nucleic acid amplification technique, termed Genome Exponential Amplification Reaction (GEAR). The method employs a set of four primers (two inner and two outer). The outer primer pair targets three specific nucleic acid sequences at a constant 60°C, while the inner pair of primers accelerates and improves the sensitivity of the assay. The GEAR technique is an improvement over loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) in three ways.

Fluorescent Primer(s) Creation for Nucleic Acid Detection and Amplification

CDC researchers have developed technology that consists of a simple and inexpensive technique for creating fluorescent labeled primers for nucleic acid amplification. Fluorescent chemical-labeled probes and primers are extensively used in clinical and research laboratories for rapid, real-time detection and identification of microbes and genetic sequences. During nucleic acid amplification, the "UniFluor" primer is incorporated into newly synthesized double stranded DNA.
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