United States Pharmacopeia activities in the area of vaccines, virology and immunology.

The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) develops public standards for medical products that are enforceable by FDA. USP general information chapters have been providing industrial and academic researchers alike with crucial guidance especially in areas where there is absence of regulatory guidance. In an effort to meet the challenge of rapid advances in vaccine research and manufacturing, the Council of Experts Committee for Vaccines, Virology, and Immunology of the US Pharmacopeia has recently initiated two new general chapters to provide advice for researchers and manufacturers in the vaccine and virology fields and beyond.

Structural basis of BLyS receptor recognition.

B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS), a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily, is a cytokine that induces B-cell proliferation and immunoglobulin secretion. We have determined the three-dimensional structure of BLyS to 2.0 A resolution and identified receptor recognition segments using limited proteolysis coupled with mass spectrometry.