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Review
. 2014 Aug:29:62-8.
doi: 10.1016/j.coi.2014.04.005. Epub 2014 May 13.

A systems biology approach to the effect of aging, immunosenescence and vaccine response

Gregory A Poland  1 , Inna G Ovsyannikova  2 , Richard B Kennedy  2 , Nathaniel D Lambert  2 , James L Kirkland  3
Affiliations
Review

A systems biology approach to the effect of aging, immunosenescence and vaccine response

Gregory A Poland et al. Curr Opin Immunol. 2014 Aug.

Abstract

Aging can lead to immunosenescence, which dramatically impairs the hosts' ability to develop protective immune responses to vaccine antigens. Reasons for this are not well understood. This topic's importance is reflected in the increases in morbidity and mortality due to infectious diseases among elderly persons, a population growing in size globally, and the significantly lower adaptive immune responses generated to vaccines in this population. Here, we endeavor to summarize the existing data on the genetic and immunologic correlates of immunosenescence with respect to vaccine response. We cover how the application of systems biology can advance our understanding of vaccine immunosenescence, with a view toward how such information could lead to strategies to overcome the lower immunogenicity of vaccines in the elderly.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests

Dr. Poland is the chair of a Safety Evaluation Committee for novel investigational vaccine trials being conducted by Merck Research Laboratories. Dr. Poland offers consultative advice on vaccine development to Merck & Co. Inc., CSL Biotherapies, Avianax, Sanofi Pasteur, Dynavax, Novartis Vaccines and Therapeutics, PAXVAX Inc, and Emergent Biosolutions. Drs. Poland and Ovsyannikova hold two patents related to vaccinia peptide research. These activities have been reviewed by the Mayo Clinic Conflict of Interest Review Board and are conducted in compliance with Mayo Clinic Conflict of Interest policies. This research has been reviewed by the Mayo Clinic Conflict of Interest Review Board and was conducted in compliance with Mayo Clinic Conflict of Interest policies.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Immunologic Changes Due to Immunosenescence
Figure 2
Figure 2
The Incorporation of Immunosenescence Markers into a Predictive Vaccine Response and Systems Biology Model. There is a diminished immune response to vaccines in the elderly. Specific factors that have been shown to be associated with this response (for example: chronological age, body mass index (BMI), CD28 expression on CD8 T-cells; telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT); and T-cell receptor excisions circles (TREC)). Current systems biology approaches focus on incorporating these immunosenescence markers into a predictive vaccine response model in hopes of better understanding the complex intricacies of the aging immune system. [1] *Novel insights will be gained by new research approaches aimed at studying metabolomics, metagenomics, and the host microbiome.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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