The disclosure describes HCMV ribonucleic acid (RNA) vaccines, as well as methods of using the vaccines and compositions comprising the vaccines.

A novel method for gene therapy using intranasal administration of genetically modified viral vectors. Target genes for therapeutic administration to a human patient, for many purposes such as production of telomerase in a patient's body, are selected and transfected into a bacterial cell. Viral transduction is used to infect a human-administrable virus with the target genes in the bacterial cell. A solution containing a therapeutic amount of transfected viral agents is intranasally administered the solution into a human patient.

The present invention provides an efficient process for culturing viruses in the presence of an endonuclease and for producing vaccines, typically from live attenuated viruses, under conditions to reduce the presence of host cell DNA and eliminate the need for a post-harvest DNA digestion step.

The disclosure describes HCMV ribonucleic acid (RNA) vaccines, as well as methods of using the vaccines and compositions comprising the vaccines.

This invention relates to cytomegalovirus (CMV) proteins suitable for vaccine uses. Provided herein are mammalian host cells, in particular CHO cells, in which the sequence(s) encoding CMV proteins gH, gL, pUL128, pUL130, pUL131 (or a complex-forming fragment thereof) are stably integrated into the genome.

The disclosure provides modified cytomegalovirus (CMV) gL proteins and complexes comprising gL proteins. The modified gL proteins remain intact and are able to form complexes with other CMV proteins.

The present disclosure provides cytomegalovirus vectors encoding fusion proteins comprising Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) antigens, nucleic acid molecules encoding the same, cytomegalovirus vectors comprising nucleic acid molecules, compositions comprising the same, and methods of eliciting an immune response against tuberculosis.

A method is provided to improve virus production is an infected host cell by culturing the infected cell in an effective amount of alpha-ketoglutarate.

An isolated human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) membrane protein complex that comprises gH, gL and at least one more HCMV glycoprotein is provided. In some embodiments the complex consists of gH, gL and gO. In other embodiments the complex consists of gH, gL, pUL128, pUL130 and pUL131A. Processes for expressing and purifying such complexes, and subsequent uses of such complexes in immunogenic compositions and vaccines, are also provided.

Methods of increasing diversity in cytomegalovirus vaccines through the selection of cell type in which the virus is propagated, and the use of cytomegalovirus produced by those methods in the development of vaccine compositions, are disclosed. Vaccine compositions comprising CMV isolated from epithelial cells are also disclosed.