Adenoviruses as vaccine vectors

✍ Scribed by Nia Tatsis and Hildegund C.J. Ertl

• Book ID: 120165745
• Publisher: Molecular Therapy volume 10
• Year: 2004
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 500 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1525-0016
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2004.07.013

✦ Synopsis

Adenoviruses have transitioned from tools for gene replacement therapy to bona fide vaccine
delivery vehicles. They are attractive vaccine vectors as they induce both innate and adaptive
immune responses in mammalian hosts. Currently, adenovirus vectors are being tested as subunit
vaccine systems for numerous infectious agents ranging from malaria to HIV-1. Additionally, they
are being explored as vaccines against a multitude of tumor-associated antigens. In this review we
describe the molecular biology of adenoviruses as well as ways the adenovirus vectors can be
manipulated to enhance their efficacy as vaccine carriers. We describe methods of evaluating
immune responses to transgene products expressed by adenoviral vectors and discuss data on
adenoviral vaccines to a selected number of pathogens. Last, we comment on the limitations of
using human adenoviral vectors and provide alternatives to circumvent these problems. This field is
growing at an exciting and rapid pace, thus we have limited our scope to the use of adenoviral
vectors as vaccines against viral pathogens.

✦ Subjects

adenoviruses, vaccines