Recombination infection

Ramshaw lA, Andrew ME, Phillips SM, Boyle DB, Coupar BE. Recovery of immunodeficient mice from a vaccinia virus/IL-2 recombinant infection. Nature 1987 329(6139) 545-6. 

Recombinant human DL-1 receptor antagonist (Anakinra, Kineret ) blocks the biological activity of interleukin-1 by competitively inhibiting IL-1 binding to the interleukin-1 type I receptor (IL-1RI), which is expressed in a wide variety of tissues and organs. Thereby it reduces the pro-inflammatory activities of IL-1 including cartilage destiuction and bone resorption. Side effects include an increased risk of infections and neutropenia. 

An important safety issue of viral vectors is whether or not the recombinant viruses are able to replicate in the infected cells. Replication of viral vectors is unwanted in most gene-therapy approaches. Therefore, replication-defective vectors have been designed, which are able to perform only one initial infectious cycle within the target cell. In addition, replication-competent vectors have been designed, which are able to productively infect the target cell and to spread in the target tissue. 

G-CSF (recombinant products molgramostim, sar-gramostim) is locally active and remains at the site of infection to localize and activate neutrophils [4]. Like G-CSF, GM-CSF stimulates the proliferation,... 

The recombinant hematopoietic growth factors have had a significant impact on the treatment of cancer, including prevention of serious infections and anemia. 

A new coronavirus was quickly identified after the outbreak of an atypical pneumonia in southern China early in 2003. The new virus eventually caused 8,000 infections with approximately 800 deaths in 29 countries. The condition was named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, SARS, and the causative coronavirus named SARS-CoV. The zoonotic nature of the infection came with the identification of a similar virus in bats (Poon et al. 2005), although it is possible that the bat virus passed through other animal hosts and recombined with other SARS-like coron-aviruses prior to infecting humans (Hon et al. 2008). SARS-CoV is not currently circulating in the human population however, the mysterious appearance and rapid spread of this virus emphasized how vulnerable the human population is to such respiratory infections. This has spurred interest in the development of antivirals that could be used either in treatment or as prophylaxis to complement public health measures in curbing future outbreaks. 

Abstract In 2007, the world celebrated the 50th anniversary of the discovery of interferon (IFN) by Isaacs and Lindemnann. Subsequently, the IFN-a gene was cloned, fully sequenced and IFN-a was produced in recombinant form. Recombinant IFN-a is now used as the basis for treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection and can also be used to treat certain forms of chronic hepatitis B virus infections. IFNs have also been used in other viral infections, although with less success. The antiviral mechanisms of IFNs are reviewed in this chapter as well as the utility of IFNs in the treatment of persistent viral infections. 

Kozlowski A, Charles SA, Harris JM (2001) Development of pegylated interferons for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. BioDrugs 15 419 29 Krown SE, AeppU D, Balfour HH Jr (1999) Phase II, randomized, open-label, community-based trial to compare the safety and activity of combination therapy with recombinant interferon-alpha2b and zidovudine versus zidovudine alone in patients with asymptomatic to mildly symptomatic HIV infection. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retrovirol 20 245-254 LaFleur DW, NardeUi B, Tsareva T, Mather D, Feng P, Semenuk M, Taylor K, Buergin M, Chinchilla D, Roshke V, Chen G, Ruben SM, Pitha PM, Coleman TA, Moore PA (2001) Interferon-kappa, a novel type I interferon expressed in human keratinocytes. J Biol Chem 276 39765-39771... 

Symes, S. J., Gunesekere, 1. C., Marshall, J. A., and Wright, P. J. (2007). Norovirus mixed infection in an oyster-associated outbreak An opportunity for recombination. Arch. Virol. 152,1075-1086. 

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