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Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Vaccinia Reporter Viruses for Quantifying Viral Function at All Stages of Gene Expression
Published on: May 15, 2014
Poxvirus interleukin-4 expression overcomes inherent resistance and vaccine-induced immunity: pathogenesis,
Nanhai Chen1, Clifford J Bellone, Jill Schriewer
1Genelux Corporation, San Diego Science Center, 3030 Bunker Hill Street, Suite 310, San Diego, CA 92109, USA.
Abstract:
In 2001, Jackson et al. reported that murine IL-4 expression by a recombinant ectromelia virus caused enhanced morbidity and lethality in resistant C57BL/6 mice as well as overcame protective immune memory responses. To achieve a more thorough understanding of this phenomenon and to assess a variety of countermeasures, we constructed a series of ECTV recombinants encoding murine IL-4 under the control of promoters of different strengths and temporal regulation. We showed that the ECTV-IL-4 recombinant expressing the highest level of IL-4 was uniformly lethal for C57BL/6 mice even when previously immunized. The lethality of the ECTV-IL-4 recombinants resulted from virus-expressed IL-4 signaling through the IL-4 receptor but was not due to IL-4 toxicity. A number of treatment approaches were evaluated against the most virulent IL-4 encoding virus. The most efficacious therapy was a combination of two antiviral drugs (CMX001(®) and ST-246(®)) that have different mechanisms of action.
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