Scientists from GIBH have made new achievements in the field of Adenovirus-Vectored Vaccination

Dr. Chen Ling is a distinguished research fellow at GIBH, CAS. Recently, his group (Dr Sun Caijun and Dr Feng Liqiang) discovered a new technology called AVIP (adenoviral vector-infected PBMC). This technology has been tested in a recognized challenge model of SIVmac239 infection using Ad5-seropositive rhesus macaques. Their study warranted further development of this strategy into a simple and practical method for repeated applications of Ad5-vectored vaccines for HIV and other infectious diseases that have yet to have an effective vaccine (J Virol. 2012,86(20):11031-42).

Adenovirus-based vectors, especially human adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5), have been extensively explored as vaccine and gene therapy vehicles for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis, influenza, and other infectious diseases and cancers and have been shown to elicit potent immune responses in animal models and humans. However, a major obstacle to their clinical application is the high prevalence of preexisting anti-Ad5 immunity resulting from natural infection. It has been reported that there are geographic variations in the prevalence of natural adenovirus infection. Dr Chen Ling and his research group have investigated the seroprevalence of Ad5 in Guangzhou, southern China by measuring the Ad5 neutralizing antibodies in blood samples collected from several sites. They found that the seroprevalence was 77.34% in the general healthy population (Vaccine. 2011,29(22):3837-3841). The survey conducted by Dr Chen provides useful insights for the further development of Ad5-based vaccination and gene therapy.