Methods and compositions are provided for the treatment of glaucoma and other optic neuropathies.

The current invention reports a promoter that has the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 02 or SEQ ID NO: 03 which is a human CMV major immediate-early (hCMV-MIE) promoter/enhancer with C to G point mutation at position 41 and/or 179 relative to the transcription start site. This new promoter is especially useful for the production of polypeptides at large scale as it shows reduced promoter silencing and improved polypeptide production.

The present invention is based, in part, on cancer vaccine compositions or pharmaceutical compositions comprising cancer cells, monocytes, and/or osteoclasts that activate NK cells, and methods for using same to prevent and/or treat diseases such as cancer.

Provided are HIV-1 fusion polypeptides, polynucleotides encoding such fusion polypeptides, vectors expressing such fusion polypeptides for use in eliciting an immune response against HIV-1; pharmaceutical and immunogenic compositions and kits comprising such fusion polypeptides, polynucleotides or vectors, and methods of use in treating and/or preventing HIV-1. Further provided are methods for design of antiviral vaccines, including vaccines to elicit an immune response against HIV-1.

Transcriptional units encoding Zika virus (ZIKV) premembrane (prM) and envelope (E) proteins, which upon translation form Zika virus-like particles (VLPs), are described. Use of the transcriptional units and VLPs in three different ZIKV vaccine platforms is described. Immunoassay-based detection methods using ZIKV VLPs are described for the diagnosis of ZIKV infection.

The present invention relates to the field of genetic engineering, preferably the expression of recombinant proteins (RP). In particular, the invention relates to a promoter and variants thereof having an equal function and more than 90% sequence identity. The promoter comprises a fragment of 1147 base pairs (bp) of a first promoter, promoter of the -actin gene of the Cricetulus griseus genome, enriched in cytosine-guanine dinucleotides (RegCG). The first promoter can be upstream of a second promoter, cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter. The invention also relates to vectors, transfected cellular lines and a method for producing RP in mammal cells that have been transfected with vectors containing said promoter or variants thereof.

Human cytomegalovirus vectors comprising heterologous antigens are disclosed. The vectors derived from the TR strain, are ganciclovir-sensitive, include active US2, US3, US6, US7 and UL131A genes, and have a deleterious or inactivating mutation in the UL82 gene preventing the expression of pp71.

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 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.