ALPHAVIRUS EXPRESSION VECTORS AND THEIR USE AS RECOMBINANT VACCINES -A MINIREVIEW

Alphavirus vectors have become widely used in basic research to study the structure and function of proteins and for protein production purp oses. Development of a variety of vectors has made it possible to deli ver foreign sequences as naked RNA or DNA, or as suicide virus particl es produced using helper vector strategies. Preliminary reports also s uggest that these vectors may be useful for in vivo applications where transient, high-level protein expression is desired, such as recombin ant vaccines. The initial studies have already shown that alphavirus v accines can induce strong humoral and cellular immune responses with g ood immunological memory and protective effects.