By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, May 5, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Two experimental vaccines show promise in protecting against infection with the "mono" virus, which also causes cancer and has been implicated as a potential trigger of multiple sclerosis, a new paper reports.
Tested only in animals so far, the vaccines block two pathways by which the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) takes root inside the body, said senior researcher Dr. Gary Nabel, president and CEO of ModeX Therapeutics, a small biotech startup in Natick, Mass.
Epstein-Barr is tricky to prevent because it takes up residence in two types of cells, Nabel said — B immune cells that produce antibodies, and epithelial cells that line the internal and external surfaces of the body.
These new vaccines are genetically engineered to induce an immune response that would block infection of both cell types, Nabel said.
"That gives us an opportunity to really damp down any foothold the virus may be able to take in establishing itself in the body," Nabel said. "That's why we think that this is a worthwhile approach, because we've essentially isolated two critical entry proteins for the virus, and can block its ability to enter cells and cause infection."