Provided are a method for diagnosing nasopharyngeal carcinoma on the basis of the anti-EB virus (EBV) antibody level and a kit used for the method. Also provided are a polypeptide encoded by a BNLF2b gene in EB virus used for the above-mentioned diagnosis and the use thereof for diagnosing nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

The invention provides Epstein-Barr Virus antigen polynucleotides, polypeptides and vectors; as well as immunogenic compositions comprising the same. It includes the use of Epstein-Barr Virus antigen constructs to produce vaccines for treating and preventing Epstein-Barr Virus infections and Epstein-Barr Virus-associated diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.

This disclosure relates to antigenic EBV polypeptides and their use in eliciting antibodies against EBV. Also disclosed are antigenic polypeptides comprising an EBV polypeptide and a ferritin protein.

Viral vectors are provided for use as genetic immunotherapeutic agents, including preventive and therapeutic vaccines as well as compositions to enhance cellular immune responses. The vectors are particularly useful for treating or preventing cancer and infectious diseases. The vectors include lentiviral vectors that encode one or more antigens and an adjuvant, and optionally may encode one or more soluble checkpoint inhibitor molecules. The adjuvant is a fusion protein including latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) from Epstein Barr virus with in which the intracytoplasmic domain has been replaced by human IPS1 or a variant thereof capable of activating the STING pathway. The vector-encoded sequences are codon optimized for human expression.

Provided herein are methods for preparing and characterizing CTL cultures and preparations. Also provided herein are methods of determining the presence or absence of trace amounts of viral vectors following the preparation of CTLs.

The invention provides a method for manufacturing a HEK293 cell line, which is capable of producing Epstein-Barr virus-like particles (EB-VLPs), as well as the HEK293 cell line obtainable by said method. The invention is further directed to a method for manufacturing EB-VLPs and a composition comprising EB-VLPs obtainable by said method for manufacturing EB-VLPs. Additionally, the invention provides a kit comprising EB-VLPs generated according to the method for manufacturing EB-VLPs. Further, the invention relates to a method for manufacturing a vaccine as well as the vaccine containing EB-VLPs obtainable by said method for manufacturing EB-VLPs.

Provided herein are compositions and methods comprising immunogenic polypeptides related to the prevention and treatment of Epstein Ban vims infection and related pathologies.

In certain embodiments, described herein is a method of treating a subject infected with a pathogen encoding an Fc-binding protein comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of a pharmaceutical composition comprising an Fc region of an immunoglobulin G antibody. Also described herein is a method for treating cancer in a subject undergoing oncolytic viral therapy comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of a pharmaceutical composition comprising an Fc region of an immunoglobulin G antibody. Further described herein is a method of activating natural killer (NK) cells in a subject infected with a pathogen, comprising administering to the subject a pharmaceutical composition comprising an Fc region of an immunoglobulin G antibody.

Disclosed herein are antibodies or immunogenic fragments thereof that specifically bind to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) glycoprotein 350 (gp350) or 220 or one or more epitopes of EBV gp350 and neutralize EBV infection. Also disclosed are immunogenic peptides comprising one or more gp350 epitopes, EBV antibody-small molecule conjugates and pharmaceutical compositions comprising the antibody or an immunogenic fragment thereof, one or more epitopes of EBV gp350, one or more immunogenic peptides, or the EBV antibody-small molecule conjugate. The antibodies, epitopes, immunogenic peptides, conjugates, and pharmaceutical compositions can be used to treat or prevent EBV infections and EBV-associated conditions and diseases.

We have generated a 3D model of the glycoprotein B (gB) of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) to design candidate stabilizing mutations that increase the stability of the prefusion state essential for an effective EBV gB based vaccine. Provided herein are engineered polypeptides derived from the EBV gB, which include an altered EBV gB ectodomain that has modifications relative to the native EBV gB ectodomain that stabilize a prefusion conformation of the polypeptides. In various aspects, the modifications are amino acid substitutions to generate pairs of cysteine amino acid residues, preferably positioned to connect different domains of the poly peptide or different copies of the polypeptide in a trimeric or multimeric conformation via formation of disulfide bonds during protein expression. In additional aspects, the modifications and/or the engineered polypeptides do not contain pairs of cysteine amino acid residues that may form disulfide bonds in a postfusion conformation.