Join the free, hour-long Journal of Virology Seminar Series webinars, where authors will present their recently published ® (JVI) articles and share the story behind their research with the wider academic community. Presentations are followed by an open forum panel discussion with all speakers and participants. JVI editors will moderate the sessions, including the discussion and live Q&A.
Targeting Zika: Virus-Like Particle Vaccines with Authentic Quaternary Epitopes for Enhanced Protection
May 22, 2025, 11 a.m. ET
Join us for the third webinar in the Journal of Virology Seminar Series where we’ll hear from the authors who developed a vaccine against Zika virus. In this session, Gorben Pijlman, Ph.D., M.S., and Monique van Oers, Ph.D., from Wageningen University will share the story behind their vaccine design journey—from the challenges of early virus-like particle candidates that failed to generate protective immunity, to the persistence and innovation that led to a successful Zika virus-like particle vaccine.
Gain insights into how the team identified key antigenic characteristics required for an effective immune response and ultimately produced a vaccine capable of protecting against viremia and testicular damage in an animal model. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear directly from the researchers and explore the scientific process behind a promising step forward in Zika virus prevention.
Key Learning Objectives:
- Understand how Zika virus-like particles comprised of prME proteins can be efficiently produced using insect cells.
- Explore the role of the envelope protein substitution, A264C, that stabilizes E dimer formation.
- Discover why E dimer formation combined with vaccine production in a novel Sf9 insect cell line adapted to grow in suspension at pH=7 are essential for immunogenicity.
- Gain insights into how effective flavivirus vaccines present the immunogen in an authentic quaternary structure with a pre-fusion conformation.
Presenters
- Gorben Pijlman, Ph.D., M.S., Wageningen University
- Monique van Oers Ph.D., Wageningen University
- Moderated by Stacey Schultz-Cherry, Ph.D., Co-Editor in Chief, Journal of Virology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
About the Journal
The ® (JVI) is a 黑料正能量journal dedicated to publishing primary research, minireviews and other article formats that interrogate fundamental processes and structure in viruses, the mechanisms by which they interact and evolve with their host and environment, novel methodologies and therapeutic and diagnostic strategies.
Explore past Journal of Virology Seminar Series webinars on our YouTube playlist.