Measles-derived vaccines to prevent emerging viral diseases

Abstract

Infectious disease epidemics match wars and natural disasters in their capacity to threaten lives and damage economies. Like SARS previously and Zika recently, the Ebola crisis in 2015 showed how vulnerable the world is to these epidemics, with over 11,000 people dying in the outbreak. In addition to causing immense human suffering, these epidemics particularly affect low- and middle-income countries. Many of these deadly infectious diseases that have epidemic potential can become global health emergencies in the absence of effective vaccines. But very few vaccines against these threats have been developed to create proven medical products. The measles vaccine is an efficient, live attenuated, replicating virus that has been safely administered to 2 billion children over the last 40 years, affording life-long protection after a single dose. Taking advantage of these characteristics, this attenuated virus was transformed into a versatile chimeric or recombinant vaccine vector with demonstrated proof-of-principle in humans and a preclinical track record of rapid adaptability and effectiveness for a variety of pathogens. Clinical trials have shown the safety and immunogenicity of this vaccine platform in individuals with preexisting immunity to measles. This review describes the potential of this platform to develop new vaccines against emerging viral diseases.

Potential interventions for novel coronavirus in China: A systematic review

“…Bodmer et al 133 had reported that two live‐attenuated measles virus vaccines either expressing S protein or N protein of MERS‐CoV could induce robust and multifunctional T cell responses in the mouse model. Frantz et al 134 also mentioned that recombinant measles vaccine could induce stronger and T helper 1‐biased responses.…”

Vaccine platforms for the prevention of Lassa fever

“…The large insert capacity of the vector has enabled stable insertion of both antigens. A single dose of the vaccine, MV-LASV-NP + GPC, protected macaques from lethal LASV challenge (Mateo M, manuscript submitted, reviewed in [99]).…”

Microbes and Infection turns 20

“…With regards to viruses, Frantz et al propose transforming the Rolls Royce of live attenuated vaccines, the measles vaccine, into a "plug-and-play" platform for the fast development of new potential vaccines, by grafting antigenic proteins from other viruses onto the particularly accommodating measles vaccine [4]. And as for parasites, Low et al suggest taking advantage of a relatively-unknown organelle: the apicoplast, the exclusive property of Apicomplexan parasites such as Plasmodium.…”