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热休克蛋白(HSP)是在应激情况下产生的蛋白,能稳定甚至重新折叠变性的蛋白。由于HSP在种属间有高度保守性,因此具有超抗原性,即能提供强免疫应答。 加拿大StressGen生物技术公司利用重组应激蛋白建立了一种“万能抗原”技术,研制纯化的应激蛋白疫苗或与某些抗原结合的疫苗。目前他们正在研制DNA重组亚单位结核菌苗、其他传染病疫苗和治疗性癌症疫苗。 StressGen公司认为,分枝杆菌应激蛋白是人体接种BCG及感染结核杆菌后免疫系统的主要靶蛋白,因此,他们设计出一种基于分枝杆菌应激蛋白的DNA重组结核菌苗。该菌苗绝无感染性。鉴于美国一些大城市结核病(尤其是耐药性结核病)发病率重又增高,且由于担心BCG的安全性而未开展广泛性免疫接种,StressGen公司相信,绝对安全有效的结核菌苗将能打开拥有17亿接种者的市场。该公司还在研制由疫苗亚单位和HSP佐剂构成的融合蛋白的单分子疫苗。
Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are proteins produced under stress conditions that stabilize or even refold denatured proteins. Because HSP is highly conserved among species, it is superantigen that provides a strong immune response. StressGen, a Canadian biotechnology company that uses recombinant stress proteins to establish a “universal antigen” technology, develops purified stress protein vaccines or vaccines that bind to certain antigens. Currently they are working on DNA recombinant subunit TB vaccine, other infectious disease vaccines and therapeutic cancer vaccines. StressGen believes mycobacterial stress proteins are the major target proteins of the immune system in humans after inoculation of BCG and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, so they devised a recombinant DNA vaccine based on the mycobacterial stress protein. The bacterium is not contagious. Given the increased incidence of tuberculosis (especially drug-resistant TB) in some major metropolitan areas in the United States and the lack of widespread immunizations due to concerns about the safety of BCG, StressGen believes that an absolutely safe and effective TB vaccine will open 1.7 billion vaccination market. The company is also developing a single-molecule vaccine for a fusion protein made up of a vaccine subunit and an HSP adjuvant.