The immunosuppressive environment of advanced tumors is a primary obstacle to the efficacy of immunostimulatory and vaccine approaches. Here, we report an approach to arm an oncolytic virus with CD40 ligand (CD40L) to stimulate beneficial immunologic responses in patients. A double-targeted chimeric adenovirus controlled by the hTERT promoter and expressing CD40L (CGTG-401) was constructed and ...

BACKGROUND Efficacy of oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in prevention of HIV acquisition has been evaluated using a daily regimen. However, adherence to long term daily medication is rarely perfect. Intermittent regimen may be a feasible alternative. Preclinical studies have demonstrated effectiveness of intermittent PrEP in SHIV prevention among animals. However, little is known about inte...

BACKGROUND Tuberculosis is a life threatening disease that is partially prevented by BCG vaccine. Development of more effective vaccines is an urgent priority in TB control. Ag85a and Tb10.4 are the members of culture filter protein (CFP) of M. tuberculosis that have high immunogenicity. OBJECTIVE To analyze the immunogenicity of Ag85a-Tb10.4 DNA vaccine by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (...

Cytomegalovirus (CMV)-specific T-cell immunity plays an important role in protection from CMV disease in immunocompromised patients. Identification of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes is essential for monitoring T-cell immunity and also for immunotherapy. In this and previous studies, CMV-pp65-specific CTL lines were successfully generated from all of 11 CMV-seropositive healthy donors, us...

We have established a highly sensitive sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on two monoclonal antibodies (mAb) to measure the content of the major peanut allergen Ara h 1 in foods. Two mAbs were selected out of 12 murine hybridoma cells secreting Ara h 1-specific antibody. Using mAb 6 as the capture antibody and HRP-labelled mAb 4 as the detection antibody, the limit of dete...

Antibodies play a central role in prophylaxis against many infectious agents. While neutralization is a primary function of antibodies, the Fc- and complement-dependent activities of these multifunctional proteins may also be critical in their ability to provide protection against most viruses. Protection against viral pathogens in vivo is complex, and while virus neutralization--the ability of...

Fecal samples from rotavirus-infected piglets were characterized by a serotyping enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) by using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) specific to human serotypes 1, 2, 3, and 4 (D. O. Matson, M. K. Estes, J. W. Burns, H. B. Greenberg, K. Taniguchi, and S. Urasawa, submitted for publication). Rotavirus in 19 of 25 specimens tested from two herds of pigs from Buenos Air...

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is one of the most common infections after solid organ transplantation. Improved assays to predict viral replication and disease would help refine current preventive strategies. Monitoring of CMV-specific T-cell responses may help guide clinical decision making. Several techniques are now available to quantify CMV-specific T-cell responses, including flow cytometry, enzyme...

Accurate determination of the concentrations of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody to tetanus toxoid is important in order to evaluate the immunogenicity of tetanus toxoid vaccines, determine immune competence in individual patients, and measure the prevalence of immunity in populations. The performance of three commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for IgG antibodies ...