tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
J Virol. 2012 Aug 15. [Epub ahead of print]
A Virus-like Particle that Elicits Cross-reactive Antibodies to the Conserved Stem of Influenza Virus Hemagglutinin.
Schneemann A, Speir JA, Tan GS, Khayat R, Ekiert DC, Matsuoka Y, Wilson IA.
Source
Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037.
Abstract
The discovery of broadly neutralizing antibodies that recognize highly conserved epitopes in the membrane-proximal region of influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) has revitalized efforts to develop a universal influenza virus vaccine. This effort will likely require novel immunogens that contain these epitopes but lack the variable and immunodominant epitopes located in the globular head of HA. As a first step toward developing such an immunogen, we investigated whether the 20-residue A-helix of the HA2 chain that forms the major component of the epitope of broadly neutralizing antibodies CR6261, F10 and others is sufficient by itself to elicit antibodies with similarly broad antiviral activity. Here we report multivalent display of the A-helix on icosahedral virus-like particles (VLPs) derived from the capsid of Flock House virus (FHV). Mice immunized with VLPs displaying 180 copies/particle of the A-helix produced antibodies that recognized trimeric HA and the elicited antibodies had binding characteristics similar to those of CR6261 and F10: they recognized multiple HA subtypes from group 1, but not group 2. However, the anti A-helix antibodies did not neutralize influenza virus. These results indicate that further engineering of the transplanted peptide is required and that display of additional regions of the epitope may be necessary to achieve protection.
PMID:
22896619
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22896619
A Virus-like Particle that Elicits Cross-reactive Antibodies to the Conserved Stem of Influenza Virus Hemagglutinin.
Schneemann A, Speir JA, Tan GS, Khayat R, Ekiert DC, Matsuoka Y, Wilson IA.
Source
Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037.
Abstract
The discovery of broadly neutralizing antibodies that recognize highly conserved epitopes in the membrane-proximal region of influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) has revitalized efforts to develop a universal influenza virus vaccine. This effort will likely require novel immunogens that contain these epitopes but lack the variable and immunodominant epitopes located in the globular head of HA. As a first step toward developing such an immunogen, we investigated whether the 20-residue A-helix of the HA2 chain that forms the major component of the epitope of broadly neutralizing antibodies CR6261, F10 and others is sufficient by itself to elicit antibodies with similarly broad antiviral activity. Here we report multivalent display of the A-helix on icosahedral virus-like particles (VLPs) derived from the capsid of Flock House virus (FHV). Mice immunized with VLPs displaying 180 copies/particle of the A-helix produced antibodies that recognized trimeric HA and the elicited antibodies had binding characteristics similar to those of CR6261 and F10: they recognized multiple HA subtypes from group 1, but not group 2. However, the anti A-helix antibodies did not neutralize influenza virus. These results indicate that further engineering of the transplanted peptide is required and that display of additional regions of the epitope may be necessary to achieve protection.
PMID:
22896619
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22896619