Generation and characterization of a monoclonal antibody against FGFR3 that protects mice from BoNT/A.

Botulinum neurotoxin serotype A (BoNT/A) can cause flaccid paralysis of muscles, an illness fatal to human, by entering neurons and blocking neurotransmitter release. The process was mediated by three receptors. A specific monoclonal antibody anti-D23, designated as ML419, targeting the ectodomain (D23) of fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3), one of the three receptors, was screened and capable of disturbing the recognition of BoNT/A and FGFR3.

Evaluation of Zika virus DNA vaccines based on NS1 and domain III of E.

Background: A large-scale outbreak of Zika virus (ZIKV) has occurred in Brazil and other South American countries, and has rapidly spread to 60 countries and regions worldwide since 2015, but no approved anti-ZIKV vaccines are available as of 2021.

Methods: We developed four types of anti-ZIKV DNA vaccine candidates: VPC-NS1, VPC-prME, VPC-prME-NS1, and VPC-EIII-NS1. They were developed against the structural proteins prM and E, and non-structural protein 1 (NS1) of ZIKV using the mammalian cell expression vector pcDNA3.