Potential Application of the CRISPR/Cas9 System against Herpesvirus Infections.

The CRISPR/Cas9 system has been applied in the genome editing and disruption of latent infections for herpesviruses such as the herpes simplex virus, Epstein⁻Barr virus, cytomegalovirus, and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. CRISPR/Cas9-directed mutagenesis can introduce similar types of mutations to the viral genome as can bacterial artificial chromosome recombination engineering, which maintains and reconstitutes the viral genome successfully. The cleavage mediated by CRISPR/Cas9 enables the manipulation of disease-associated viral strains with unprecedented efficiency and precision. Additionally, current therapies for herpesvirus productive and latent infections are limited in efficacy and cannot eradicate viruses. CRISPR/Cas9 is potentially adapted for antiviral treatment by specifically targeting viral genomes during latent infections. This review, which focuses on recently published progress, suggests that the CRISPR/Cas9 system is not only a useful tool for basic virology research, but also a promising strategy for the control and prevention of herpesvirus latent infections

EXPLORING CALL CENTER ENABLED MECHANISMS FOR FIRM\u27S COMBINATIVE CAPABILITIES

The knowledge mechanisms of call centers have been emphasized by many pervious studies. Yet there is little empirical research that examines the call centers\u27 influence on firms\u27 combinative capabilities. To address this gap, this study examines call center enabled organizational mechanisms that contribute to the firms\u27 combinative capabilities. The study identifies differential effects from three types of combinative capabilities including system capabilities, coordination capabilities, and socialization capabilities. Through in-depth case studies of four Taiwanese call centers, this study finds seven organizational mechanisms including centralized information deployment and knowledge encapsulation, institution changing and foolproof, information hub and relationship management, decision making ladder, training center, network configuration, and job embeddedness . The findings provide practical implications to industry managers engaged in call center implementations from a combinative capabilities perspective. Future research directions are also discussed

The Regulation Requirement of Dengue Vaccines

Dengue fever (dengue), a mosquito-borne disease caused by dengue viruses (DENVs), represents severe public health problems in Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and other subtropical regions. Many regulatory issues arise along with the development of dengue vaccines. It is required to follow the regulatory pathway for the license application. Dengue vaccines can be approved without local clinical phase III data. The national regulatory authorities (NRAs) must have the information, training and ability to review and approve the application. A novel vaccine product Dengvaxia® for dengue has been approved in many countries. The approval is based on clinical trials that show the vaccine could reduce about 60% dengue, prevented 90% of severe cases and 80% of hospitalizations. Several other DNA, live-attenuated, purified inactivated, subunit, vectored and chimeric vaccine candidates are currently developing in clinical phases. Although there are still some challenges for the development and regulation of vaccine, the prospects of dengue vaccines are promising provided that we can overcome the difficulty

Nanotechnologies Applied in Biomedical Vaccines

Vaccination, one of the most effective strategies to prevent infectious diseases, is the administration of antigenic materials to stimulate an individual’s immune system to develop adaptive immunity to a specific pathogen. Though it is so advantageous for diseases control and prevention, vaccines still have some limitations. Nanotechnology is an approach to prepare a novel biomedicine vaccine with the vaccine consumption and side effects significantly decreased. Regulation is the most important criterion for the development of nanovaccines. All marketing products have to meet the requirement of regulation. The fast-track designation potentially aids in the development and expedites the review of nanovaccines that show promises in an unmet medical need. Here, some successful nanovaccine products are introduced—Inflexal® V, Epaxal®, GardasilTM, and CervarixTM have been widely used for the clinical applications, which are delivered either in the form of virosomes or virus-like particles. Vaccines based on nanotechnology may overcome their original disadvantages and lead to the development of painless, safer, and more effective products