C-C Chemokine Receptor Seven (CCR7): Coming of Age In Vaccines

C-C Chemokine Receptor Seven (CCR7): Coming of Age In Vaccines

In casual conversation with non-medical individuals, it is common for them to ask:
why do we not have a cure for cancer or vaccinations for all diseases? It seems somewhat
logical to assume that after so many years of research that cures should be readily available,
diseases in general should simply require a pill or jab and that somehow, if scientists are not
deliberately hiding these cures, then they must be asleep at the wheel.

A typical response to such questions focuses on the complexity of the different
cancers/diseases and that there will be no “one cure fits all”.

When it comes to vaccinations, there is absolutely no doubt that
many vaccines are extremely effective and a multitude of publications can attest to this and
cite how many lives have been saved because of our vaccination programs;
indeed, vaccinations typically pop up on a list of reasons why humans
today are living substantially longer than at any previous time in history.

Nevertheless, there is always an overriding and to some extent embarrassing
realization that despite the relative success of vaccines we still
do not, for the most part, know how to make consistently effective vaccines and that often it
boils down to a trial and error procedure to establish the best vaccine for a given target.

Although a discussion of the secondary immune response could take up a substantial review, in this short commentary as an example of one way to potentially boost antibody production, we will focus on a
single chemokine receptor, C-C Chemokine Receptor Seven (CCR7).

Vaccin Res Open J. 2016; 1(1): 7-9. doi: 10.17140/VROJ-1-102