Improving the MVA Vaccine Potential by Deleting the Viral Gene Coding for the IL-18 Binding Protein

This study demonstrates the relevance of IL-18 bp contribution in the immune response evasion during MVA infection. Our findings clearly show that the deletion of the viral IL-18 bp gene is an effective approach to increase MVA vaccine efficacy, as immunogenicity improvements were observed against vector antigens and more importantly to HIV antigens.