The present invention relates to a protein comprising a truncated version of the HSV-2 protein mg G-2, said protein comprising: (i) an extracellular region of mg G-2 (EX-mg G-2), or a truncated version thereof, of at least 285 amino acids; said extracellular region or truncated version thereof having at least 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98% or 99% sequence identity (% SI) to a peptide fragment of the corresponding length present in SEQ ID NO: 3; (ii) a truncated transmembrane region of mg G-2 (t-TMR-mg G-2) of 2 to 15 amino acids; said truncated transmembrane region having at least 90% sequence identity (% SI) to a peptide fragment of the corresponding length present in SEQ ID NO: 6; and (iii) an intracellular region of mg G-2 (IC-mg G-2), or a truncated version thereof, of at least 18 amino acids; said intracellular region or truncated version thereof having at least 90% or 95% sequence identity (% SI) to a peptide fragment of the corresponding length present in SEQ ID NO: 8.

The present invention relates to a composition for preventing or treating bone diseases, comprising a BMP-2-encoding gene and HSV-tk-encoding gene, and as an active ingredient a stem cell into which a dual kill switch expression vector in which an HGPRT-encoded gene is knocked out is introduced or a cell differentiated from the stem cell, wherein the bone regeneration effect is realized by a BMP-2 growth factor and at the same time, apoptosis may also be dually controlled by the dual kill switch.

The present invention provides vaccine or immunogenic compositions comprising novel antigens derived from the equine strain of influenza H3N8. These proteins and specific immunogenic domains are effective as primary universal influenza antigens. The disclosed vaccines or immunogenic compositions are highly effective in inducing HA specific antibodies reactive to different influenza viruses, mucosal and systemic immune responses, and cross-protection regardless of influenza virus subtypes. In some embodiments, the vaccine is cross-protective against two or more (e.g., 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6) subtypes of influenza with or without the use of an adjuvant.

In this study, for the first time, protective efficacy of gD against ILTV challenge was evaluated. Immunization with recombinant Newcastle disease virus expressing ILTV gD induced a higher level of neutralizing antibodies and offered complete protection to chickens against lethal ILTV challenge. Uses of recombinant NDV as a vaccine vector are also described.

The present invention provides recombinant herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT) vectors that contain and express antigens of avian pathogens, compositions comprising the recombinant HVT vectors and polyvalent vaccines comprising the recombinant HVT vectors. The present invention further provides methods of vaccination against a variety of avian pathogens and method of producing the recombinant HVT vectors.

The present invention provides recombinant herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT) vectors that contain and express antigens of avian pathogens, compositions comprising the recombinant HVT vectors and polyvalent vaccines comprising the recombinant HVT vectors. The present invention further provides methods of vaccination against a variety of avian pathogens and method of producing the recombinant HVT vectors.

The disclosure provides recombinant herpes virus with diminished latency. In embodiments, the recombinant herpes virus comprises a latency gene or transcript linked to an altered or heterologous promoter. The disclosure also provides compositions and methods for inducing immunity in animals using the recombinant herpes viruses.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is an opportunistic pathogen causing Kaposi's sarcoma. It is capable of establishing latent infection, which can be reactivated to engage lytic infection for progeny production. KSHV contains a ?165 kilobase DNA genome predicted to encode at least 90 open reading frames (ORFs). In this report, we generated 91 KSHV mutants, each characterized by the disruption of a single viral ORF. The growth of these mutants in cultured cells was examined to systematically investigate the necessity of each ORF for viral latency, reactivation, and lytic replication. Salient aspects are (a) 44 ORFs are essential for viral lytic replication in cultured cells and 47 are nonessential; (b) KSHV reactivation can be positively or negatively regulated by specific viral ORFs; and (c) ORFs identified to regulate viral reactivation encode functions modulating both innate and adaptive immune responses. The intersection of viral immunomodulatory genes controlling reactivation suggests that KSHV engages in a concerted effort to communicate and respond to the host immune system for reactivation and replication using a viral sensory network. Our results imply a novel mechanism in which reactivation of KSHV is actively controlled by the virus in response to its surrounding environment, leading to the opportunistic nature of viral diseases that are strongly correlated to the host's immune status and conditions.

An altered avian NDV that contains the coding sequence of avian interleukin-4 (IL-4), or a portion thereof, in the reverse orientation suppresses in-ovo IL-4 production via RNAi when administered to embryonic birds. An immunogenic composition containing this altered NDV is included in this invention. The altered avian NDV can, optionally contain a polynucleotide encoding a heterologous antigen from a heterologous avian pathogen and can produce said heterologous antigen in-ovo.

The present invention relates to a protein comprising a truncated version of the HSV-2 protein mg G-2, said protein comprising: (i) an extracellular region of mg G-2 (EX-mg G-2), or a truncated version thereof, of at least 285 amino acids; said extracellular region or truncated version thereof having at least 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98% or 99% sequence identity (% SI) to a peptide fragment of the corresponding length present in SEQ ID NO: 3; (ii) a truncated transmembrane region of mg G-2 (t-TMR-mg G-2) of 2 to 15 amino acids; said truncated transmembrane region having at least 90% sequence identity (% SI) to a peptide fragment of the corresponding length present in SEQ ID NO: 6; and (iii) an intracellular region of mg G-2 (IC-mg G-2), or a truncated version thereof, of at least 18 amino acids; said intracellular region or truncated version thereof having at least 90% or 95% sequence identity (% SI) to a peptide fragment of the corresponding length present in SEQ ID NO: 8.