Publications by authors named "Ummey J Nahar"

Article Synopsis
  • Subunit vaccines need adjuvants to stimulate an immune response, but current options often have safety concerns or limited effectiveness.
  • This study tested mannose-lipopeptide ligands as a potential way to enhance the immune response to a vaccine using a specific Group A Streptococcus (GAS) antigen.
  • The results showed that a particular mannose ligand significantly increased the production of protective antibodies without the negative side effects associated with traditional adjuvants, indicating its potential as a safer vaccine enhancer.
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Untreated group A (GAS) can lead to a range of life-threatening diseases, including rheumatic heart disease. To date, no therapeutic or prophylactic vaccines are commercially available to treat or prevent GAS infection. Development of a peptide-based subunit vaccine offers a promising solution, negating the safety issues of live-attenuated or inactive vaccines.

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Human papilloma virus (HPV) is responsible for all cases of cervical cancer. While prophylactic vaccines are available, the development of peptide-based vaccines as a therapeutic strategy is still under investigation. In comparison with the traditional and currently used treatment strategies of chemotherapy and surgery, vaccination against HPV is a promising therapeutic option with fewer side effects.

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Peptide-based subunit vaccines include only minimal antigenic determinants, and, therefore, are less likely to induce allergic immune responses and adverse effects compared to traditional vaccines. However, peptides are weakly immunogenic and susceptible to enzymatic degradation when administered on their own. Hence, we designed polyelectrolyte complex (PEC)-based delivery systems to protect peptide antigens from degradation and improve immunogenicity.

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Adjuvants and vaccine delivery systems are used widely to improve the efficacy of vaccines. Their primary roles are to protect antigen from degradation and allow its delivery and uptake by antigen presenting cells (APCs). Carbohydrates, including various structures/forms of mannose, have been broadly utilized to target carbohydrate binding receptors on APCs.

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Malaria is a vector born parasitic disease causing millions of deaths every year. Despite the high mortality rate, an effective vaccine against this mosquito-borne infectious disease is yet to be developed. Up to date, RTS,S/AS01 is the only vaccine available for malaria prevention; however, its efficacy is low.

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In order to improve the immunogenicity of peptide-based vaccines against group A Streptococcus (GAS), lipid moieties (C16 lipoamino acid and cholic acid) were conjugated with peptide antigen (P25-J8) and further modified with α-poly(glutamic acid) (α-PGA). Thus, positively charged lipopeptide vaccine candidates LCP-1 (P25-K(J8)-SS-C16-C16) and LCP-2 (P25-K(J8)-SS-K(cholic acid)) were synthesized. Negatively charged LCP-3 (P25-K(PGA-J8)-SS-K(cholic acid)) was also produced by attaching α-PGA to the J8 N-terminus of LCP-2.

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The objective of the study was to investigate the analgesic activity of seeds extracted from the plant (Family: Apocynaceae). The seeds of were extracted with pure ethanol and administered to the experimental Swiss albino mice at three different doses (50, 100, and 150 mg/kg body weight) in pain models. Peripheral analgesic activity was evaluated using the acetic acid-induced writhing test, and heat-induced (hot plate and tail immersion test) pain models were applied for central anti-nociceptive activity evaluation.

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