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Optimization of the pseudoparticle system for standardized assessments of neutralizing antibodies against hepatitis C virus (2022)
Journal Article
Chumbe, A., Urbanowicz, R. A., Sliepen, K., Koekkoek, S. M., Molenkamp, R., Tarr, A. W., …van Gils, M. J. (2022). Optimization of the pseudoparticle system for standardized assessments of neutralizing antibodies against hepatitis C virus. Journal of General Virology, 103(11), Article 001801. https://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.001801

A better understanding of the antibody response during natural infection and the effect on disease progression and reinfection is necessary for the development of a protective hepatitis C virus (HCV) vaccine. The HCV pseudoparticle (HCVpp) system ena... Read More about Optimization of the pseudoparticle system for standardized assessments of neutralizing antibodies against hepatitis C virus.

Two doses of the SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 vaccine enhance antibody responses to variants in individuals with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection (2021)
Journal Article
Urbanowicz, R. A., Tsoleridis, T., Jackson, H. J., Cusin, L., Duncan, J. D., Chappell, J. G., …Ollivere, B. J. (2021). Two doses of the SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 vaccine enhance antibody responses to variants in individuals with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. Science Translational Medicine, 13(609), Article eabj0847. https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abj0847

Understanding the impact of prior infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on the response to vaccination is a priority for responding to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In particular, it is necess... Read More about Two doses of the SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 vaccine enhance antibody responses to variants in individuals with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The Relationship of the Mechanisms of the Pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis and the Expression of Endogenous Retroviruses (2020)
Journal Article
Lezhnyova, V. R., Martynova, E. V., Khaiboullin, T. I., Urbanowicz, R. A., Khaiboullina, S. F., & Rizvanov, A. A. (2020). The Relationship of the Mechanisms of the Pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis and the Expression of Endogenous Retroviruses. Biology, 9(12), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology9120464

Two human endogenous retroviruses of the HERV‐W family can act as cofactors triggering multiple sclerosis (MS): MS‐associated retrovirus (MSRV) and ERVWE1. Endogenous retroviral elements are believed to have integrated in our ancestors’ DNA millions... Read More about The Relationship of the Mechanisms of the Pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis and the Expression of Endogenous Retroviruses.

Polymer microarrays rapidly identify competitive adsorbents of virus-like particles (2020)
Journal Article
Blok, A. J., Gurnani, P., Xenopoulos, A., Burroughs, L., Duncan, J., Urbanowicz, R. A., …Alexander, M. R. (2020). Polymer microarrays rapidly identify competitive adsorbents of virus-like particles. Biointerphases, 15(6), Article 061005. https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0000586

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 highlights the global need for platform technologies to enable the rapid development of diagnostics, vaccines, treatments, and personal protective equipment (PPE). However, many current technologies require the detailed me... Read More about Polymer microarrays rapidly identify competitive adsorbents of virus-like particles.

Polymer microarrays rapidly identify competitive adsorbents of virus-like particles (VLPs) (2020)
Journal Article
Blok, A. J., Gurnani, P., Xenopoulos, A., Burroughs, L., Duncan, J., Urbanowicz, R. A., …Alexander, M. R. (2020). Polymer microarrays rapidly identify competitive adsorbents of virus-like particles (VLPs). Biointerphases, 15, Article 061005. https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0000586

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 highlights the global need for platform technologies to enable rapid development of diagnostics, vaccines, treatments, and personal protective equipment (PPE). However, many current technologies require the detailed mechan... Read More about Polymer microarrays rapidly identify competitive adsorbents of virus-like particles (VLPs).

Orthohantaviruses, Emerging Zoonotic Pathogens (2020)
Journal Article
Kabwe, E., Davidyuk, Y., Shamsutdinov, A., Garanina, E., Martynova, E., Kitaeva, K., …Khaiboullina, S. (2020). Orthohantaviruses, Emerging Zoonotic Pathogens. Pathogens, 9(9), Article 775. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9090775

Orthohantaviruses give rise to the emerging infections such as of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in Eurasia and the Americas, respectively. In this review we will provide a comprehensive analysis... Read More about Orthohantaviruses, Emerging Zoonotic Pathogens.

Role of HVR1 sequence similarity in the cross-genotypic neutralization of HCV (2020)
Journal Article
Mosa, A. I., AbouHaidar, M. G., Urbanowicz, R. A., Tavis, J. E., Ball, J. K., & Feld, J. J. (2020). Role of HVR1 sequence similarity in the cross-genotypic neutralization of HCV. Virology Journal, 17, Article 140. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-020-01408-9

Despite available treatments, a prophylactic HCV vaccine is needed to achieve elimination targets. HCV vaccine development has faltered largely because the extreme diversity of the virus limits the protective breadth of vaccine elicited antibodies. I... Read More about Role of HVR1 sequence similarity in the cross-genotypic neutralization of HCV.

A bivalent HCV peptide vaccine elicits pan-genotypic neutralizing antibodies in mice (2020)
Journal Article
Mosa, A. I., Urbanowicz, R. A., AbouHaidar, M. G., Tavis, J. E., Ball, J. K., & Feld, J. J. (2020). A bivalent HCV peptide vaccine elicits pan-genotypic neutralizing antibodies in mice. Vaccine, 38(44), 6864-6867. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.08.066

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd Vaccine development for antigenically variable pathogens has faltered because extreme genetic diversity precludes induction of broadly neutralizing antibodies (nAB) with classical vaccines. Here, using the most variable epitope of... Read More about A bivalent HCV peptide vaccine elicits pan-genotypic neutralizing antibodies in mice.

Structure-Based Design of Hepatitis C Virus E2 Glycoprotein Improves Serum Binding and Cross-Neutralization (2020)
Journal Article
Pierce, B. G., Keck, Z. Y., Wang, R., Lau, P., Garagusi, K., Elkholy, K., …Foung, S. K. (2020). Structure-Based Design of Hepatitis C Virus E2 Glycoprotein Improves Serum Binding and Cross-Neutralization. Journal of Virology, 94(22), https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.00704-20

Copyright © 2020 American Society for Microbiology. An effective vaccine for hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major unmet need, and it requires an antigen that elicits immune responses to key conserved epitopes. Based on structures of antibodies targetin... Read More about Structure-Based Design of Hepatitis C Virus E2 Glycoprotein Improves Serum Binding and Cross-Neutralization.

Adjuvant formulated virus-like particles expressing native-like forms of the Lassa virus envelope surface glycoprotein are immunogenic and induce antibodies with broadly neutralizing activity (2020)
Journal Article
Müller, H., Fehling, S. K., Dorna, J., Urbanowicz, R. A., Oestereich, L., Krebs, Y., …Strecker, T. (2020). Adjuvant formulated virus-like particles expressing native-like forms of the Lassa virus envelope surface glycoprotein are immunogenic and induce antibodies with broadly neutralizing activity. npj Vaccines, 5, Article 71. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41541-020-00219-x

Lassa mammarenavirus (LASV) is a rodent-borne arenavirus endemic to several West African countries. It is the causative agent of human Lassa fever, an acute viral hemorrhagic fever disease. To date, no therapeutics or vaccines against LASV have obtai... Read More about Adjuvant formulated virus-like particles expressing native-like forms of the Lassa virus envelope surface glycoprotein are immunogenic and induce antibodies with broadly neutralizing activity.

A next generation vaccine against human rabies based on a single dose of a chimpanzee adenovirus vector serotype C (2020)
Journal Article
Napolitano, F., Merone, R., Abbate, A., Ammendola, V., Horncastle, E., Lanzaro, F., …Vitelli, A. (2020). A next generation vaccine against human rabies based on a single dose of a chimpanzee adenovirus vector serotype C. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 14(7), Article e0008459. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008459

Rabies, caused by RNA viruses in the Genus Lyssavirus, is the most fatal of all infectious diseases. This neglected zoonosis remains a major public health problem in developing countries, causing the death of an estimated 25,000-159,000 people each y... Read More about A next generation vaccine against human rabies based on a single dose of a chimpanzee adenovirus vector serotype C.

Hepatitis C virus vaccine: Challenges and prospects (2020)
Journal Article
Duncan, J. D., Urbanowicz, R. A., Tarr, A. W., & Ball, J. K. (2020). Hepatitis C virus vaccine: Challenges and prospects. Vaccines, 8(1), Article 90. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines8010090

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes both acute and chronic infection and continues to be a global problem despite advances in antiviral therapeutics. Current treatments fail to prevent reinfect... Read More about Hepatitis C virus vaccine: Challenges and prospects.

Expression of human ficolin-2 in hepatocytes confers resistance to infection by diverse hepatotropic viruses (2019)
Journal Article
Irving, W. L., Jalal, P. J., Urbanowicz, R. A., Horncastle, E., Pathak, M., Goddard, C., …Tarr, A. W. (2019). Expression of human ficolin-2 in hepatocytes confers resistance to infection by diverse hepatotropic viruses. Journal of Medical Microbiology, 68(4), 642-648. https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.000935

The liver-expressed pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) mannose binding lectin (MBL), ficolin-2 and ficolin-3 contribute to the innate immune response by activating complement. Binding of soluble ficolin-2 to viral pathogens can directly neutralize... Read More about Expression of human ficolin-2 in hepatocytes confers resistance to infection by diverse hepatotropic viruses.

Antigenicity and immunogenicity of differentially glycosylated HCV E2 envelope proteins expressed in mammalian and insect cells (2019)
Journal Article
Urbanowicz, R. A., Wang, R., Schiel, J. E., Keck, Z., Kerzic, M. C., Lau, P., …Fuerst, T. R. (2019). Antigenicity and immunogenicity of differentially glycosylated HCV E2 envelope proteins expressed in mammalian and insect cells. Journal of Virology, 93(7), https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.01403-18

Development of a prophylactic vaccine for hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains a global health challenge. Cumulative evidence supports the importance of antibodies targeting the HCV E2 envelope glycoprotein to facilitate viral clearance. However, a signif... Read More about Antigenicity and immunogenicity of differentially glycosylated HCV E2 envelope proteins expressed in mammalian and insect cells.

Immunization with a synthetic consensus hepatitis C virus E2 glycoprotein ectodomain elicits virus-neutralizing antibodies (2018)
Journal Article
Tarr, A. W., Backx, M., Hamed, M. R., Urbanowicz, R. A., McClure, C. P., Brown, R. J., & Ball, J. K. (2018). Immunization with a synthetic consensus hepatitis C virus E2 glycoprotein ectodomain elicits virus-neutralizing antibodies. Antiviral Research, 160, 25-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.antiviral.2018.09.005

Global eradication of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection will require an efficacious vaccine capable of eliciting protective immunity against genetically diverse HCV strains. Natural spontaneous resolution of HCV infection is associated with productio... Read More about Immunization with a synthetic consensus hepatitis C virus E2 glycoprotein ectodomain elicits virus-neutralizing antibodies.

Enhanced nanoparticle uptake into virus infected cells: could nanoparticles be useful in antiviral therapy? (2018)
Journal Article
Abo-zeid, Y., Urbanowicz, R. A., Thomson, B. J., Irving, W. L., Tarr, A. W., & Garnett, M. C. (2018). Enhanced nanoparticle uptake into virus infected cells: could nanoparticles be useful in antiviral therapy?. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 547(1-2), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2018.06.027

Virus infections cause diseases of different severity ranged from mild infection e.g. common cold into life threatening diseases e.g. Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Hepatitis B. Virus infections represent 44% of newly emerging infections. Althou... Read More about Enhanced nanoparticle uptake into virus infected cells: could nanoparticles be useful in antiviral therapy?.

A novel neutralizing human monoclonal antibody broadly abrogates hepatitis C virus infection in vitro and in vivo (2017)
Journal Article
Desombere, I., Mesalam, A. A., Urbanowicz, R. A., Van Houtte, F., Verhoye, L., Keck, Z., …Meuleman, P. (2017). A novel neutralizing human monoclonal antibody broadly abrogates hepatitis C virus infection in vitro and in vivo. Antiviral Research, 148, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.antiviral.2017.10.015

Infections with hepatitis C virus (HCV) represent a worldwide health burden and a prophylactic vaccine is still not available. Liver transplantation (LT) is often the only option for patients with HCV-induced end-stage liver disease. However, immedia... Read More about A novel neutralizing human monoclonal antibody broadly abrogates hepatitis C virus infection in vitro and in vivo.

Human Adaptation of Ebola Virus during the West African Outbreak (2016)
Journal Article
Urbanowicz, R. A., McClure, C. P., Sakuntabhai, A., Sall, A. A., Kobinger, G., Müller, M. A., …Ball, J. K. (2016). Human Adaptation of Ebola Virus during the West African Outbreak. Cell, 167(4), 1079-1087.e5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2016.10.013

The 2013–2016 outbreak of Ebola virus (EBOV) in West Africa was the largest recorded. It began following the cross-species transmission of EBOV from an animal reservoir, most likely bats, into humans, with phylogenetic analysis revealing the cocircul... Read More about Human Adaptation of Ebola Virus during the West African Outbreak.

Novel functional hepatitis C virus glycoprotein isolates identified using an optimized viral pseudotype entry assay (2016)
Journal Article
Urbanowicz, R. A., McClure, C. P., King, B., Mason, C. P., Ball, J. K., & Tarr, A. W. (2016). Novel functional hepatitis C virus glycoprotein isolates identified using an optimized viral pseudotype entry assay. Journal of General Virology, 97(9), 2265-2279. https://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.000537

Retrovirus pseudotypes are a highly tractable model used to study the entry pathways of enveloped viruses. This model has been extensively applied to the study of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) entry pathway, pre-clinical screening of antiviral antibodi... Read More about Novel functional hepatitis C virus glycoprotein isolates identified using an optimized viral pseudotype entry assay.

Flexible and rapid construction of viral chimeras applied to hepatitis C virus (2016)
Journal Article
McClure, P. C., Urbanowicz, R. A., King, B. J., Cano-Crespo, S., Tarr, A. W., & Ball, J. K. (2016). Flexible and rapid construction of viral chimeras applied to hepatitis C virus. Journal of General Virology, 97(9), 2187-2193. https://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.000530

A novel and broadly applicable strategy combining site directed mutagenesis and DNA assembly for constructing seamless viral chimeras is described using Hepatitis C Virus as an exemplar. Full-length HCV genomic cloning cassettes, which contained flex... Read More about Flexible and rapid construction of viral chimeras applied to hepatitis C virus.