Award
NIH Reporter #1ZIABC011460-14
BKV and JCV vaccine development
Recipient
Division of Basic Sciences - NCI
Award Amount
$763,673.00
Ceiling
$763,673.00
Awarded
April 27, 2024
Identifier
1ZIABC011460-14
This NIH-funded project aims to develop vaccines to protect at-risk patients from diseases caused by BKV and JCV viruses, including kidney damage and fatal brain disease. The approach uses virus-like particles to stimulate protective antibody responses, with promising preliminary results in animal studies.
Description
Development of preventive vaccines against BKV associated nephropathy (BKVN) or progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) caused by BKV and JCV viruses. The vaccines use recombinant virus-like particles (VLPs) composed of the viral major capsid protein VP1 to elicit antibody responses capable of neutralizing the infectivity of BKV or JCV virions. The project includes support for an industry partner developing a traditional intramuscular vaccine and exploration of producing VLPs using brewer's yeast, which showed promising results in inducing neutralizing antibody responses in mice.