In conclusion, the study indicated that FMDV could be transmitted from infected buffalo to susceptible in-contact naïve buffalo and cattle by direct contact. FMD vaccination of buffalo could reduce the transmission of disease by reducing virus replication, but for completely blocking the transmission of FMDV, higher Selleckchem BMN673 doses of antigen payload might be required in the vaccine formulation. The study highlights the potential role of Indian buffalo in FMDV transmission,

and this is something that may have an impact on future control strategy. This work was supported by FP7 DISCONVAC grant 2009-226556. Thanks are also due to R. Kumar, J. Anil kumar and K. Manikumar for their help in carrying out the animal experiments. SP and DJP are Jenner Investigators. “
“To date, an effective vaccine for HIV has

yet to be realized [1]. Selleck RAD001 Here, we consider vaccines that fight the virus by inducing responses from cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). One key roadblock to an effective vaccine is that CTL-mediated attack of HIV infected cells is temporarily effective, but only until HIV mutates to escape such attack. Research has suggested that the HIV virus remains fit despite mutations within or near most CTL epitopes, and that escape at only a relatively small number of these locations will result in a less fit virus [2], [3] and [4]. Consequently, it has been proposed that a successful vaccine would elicit responses exclusively against epitopes that are resistant to mutation or are otherwise characterized by a superior immune response [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10] and [11]. Note that the need to elicit responses to multiple second epitopes in a single individual may be important for effective viral control [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10] and [11]. Unfortunately, CTL epitopes, like other small peptides, do not readily produce an immune response when injected on their own, even when combined with toll-like-receptor (TLR) agonist adjuvants known to boost the

immune response to administered antigens [12]. Here, we describe a vaccine delivery mechanism that can elicit interferon gamma ELISPOT responses to multiple specific CTL epitopes. The delivery mechanism is a synthetic, non-living vector consisting of large d,l poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) microspheres that carry multiple specific CTL epitopes. While PLGA microspheres have been investigated previously (see, e.g., [13] and [14] and references therein), we improve on this delivery mechanism in several respects. First, we demonstrate the need to include adjuvants positioned both inside and outside the microspheres, in contrast to previous work [13]. Second, we demonstrate in mice that it can be used to elicit substantial CTL responses to more than one epitope in the same individual, whereas previous studies have investigated only the inclusion of a single epitope.