Publications by authors named "Olivier B Engler"

The emergence, global spread, and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 resulted in an unprecedented need for effective antiviral drugs. Throughout the pandemic, various drug development and treatment strategies were adopted, including repurposing of antivirals designed for other viruses along with a multitude of other drugs with varying mechanisms of action (MoAs). Furthermore, multidrug treatment against COVID-19 is an ongoing topic and merits further investigation.

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Article Synopsis
  • Many people today haven't been vaccinated for smallpox since it was declared gone in 1980, making them unprotected against it and similar viruses.
  • Scientists studied people who got either the first or third type of smallpox vaccine to see how well they could fight off the Monkeypox virus from a 2022 outbreak.
  • The results showed that the first-generation vaccine was better at helping the body fight Monkeypox, but both types of vaccines had similar levels of a specific kind of antibody called IgG.
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Proper disinfection and inactivation of highly pathogenic viruses is an essential component of public health and prevention. Depending on environment, surfaces, and type of contaminant, various methods of disinfection must be both efficient and available. To test both established and novel chemical disinfectants against risk group 4 viruses in our maximum containment facility, we developed a standardized protocol and assessed the chemical inactivation of the two Ebola virus variants Mayinga and Makona suspended in two different biological soil loads.

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The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a worldwide pandemic with unprecedented economic and societal impact. Currently, several vaccines are available and multitudes of antiviral treatments have been proposed and tested. Although many of the vaccines show clinical efficacy, they are not equally accessible worldwide.

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Background: Coronaviruses (CoVs) were long thought to only cause mild respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms in humans but outbreaks of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)-CoV, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-CoV-1, and the recently identified SARS-CoV-2 have cemented their zoonotic potential and their capacity to cause serious morbidity and mortality, with case fatality rates ranging from 4 to 35%. Currently, no specific prophylaxis or treatment is available for CoV infections. Therefore we investigated the virucidal and antiviral potential of Echinacea purpurea (Echinaforce®) against human coronavirus (HCoV) 229E, highly pathogenic MERS- and SARS-CoVs, as well as the newly identified SARS-CoV-2, in vitro.

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The cellular immune response plays a central role in virus clearance and pathogenesis of liver disease in hepatitis C. The study of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-specific immune responses is limited by currently available cell-culture systems. Here, the establishment and characterization of stable human HLA-A2-positive B-lymphoblastoid x T hybrid cell lines constitutively expressing either the NS3-4A complex or the entire HCV polyprotein are reported.

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Virus specific T cell responses play an important role in resolving acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. Using the HLA-A2.1 transgenic mouse model we investigated the potential of a liposomal peptide vaccine to prime a CD8(+) T cell response against 10 different HCV epitopes, relevant for human applications.

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Drugs can interact with T cell receptors (TCR) after binding to peptide-MHC structures. This binding may involve the formation of a stable, covalent bond between a chemically reactive drug and MHC or the peptide embedded within. Alternatively, if the drug is chemically inert, the binding may be non-covalent and readily reversible.

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