Abstract
Influenza virus has significant viral diversity, both through antigenic drift and shift, which makes development of a vaccine challenging. Current influenza vaccines are updated yearly to include strains predicted to circulate in the upcoming influenza season, however this can lead to a mismatch which reduces vaccine efficacy. Several strategies targeting the most abundant and immunogenic surface protein of influenza, the hemagglutinin (HA) protein, have been explored. These strategies include stalk-directed, consensus-based, and computationally derived HA immunogens. In this review, we explore vaccine strategies which utilize novel antigen design of the HA protein to improve cross-reactive immunity for development of a universal influenza vaccine.
Highlights
Seasonal influenza epidemics infect between 10–15% of the global population each year [1]
We explore vaccine strategies which target the HA protein for development of a universal influenza vaccine, with a particular focus on novel antigen design of HA to improve cross-reactive immunity
Unlike stalk-directed strategies, consensus-based approaches typically induce HI antibodies directed against the head region of HA, which is generally accepted as a correlate of protection against influenza infection in humans [29,71]
Summary
Seasonal influenza epidemics infect between 10–15% of the global population each year [1]. Influenza virus is a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses with a genome of 8 segments. There is substantial viral diversity in influenza virus, both through antigenic drift from the error-prone RNA polymerase and through antigenic shift from reassortment of the segmented viral genome resulting in novel reassorted viruses [6,7]. Vaccine efficacy relies on the correct prediction and close antigenic match between the chosen vaccine strain and the circulating influenza strain [16] These seasonal vaccines are unlikely to provide protection from novel emergent pandemic strains (such as the 2009 H1N1 reassorted swine influenza virus). HA is the predominant antigenic protein of influenza viruses and antibodies directed at HA are correlated with protection against influenza virus infection [18,19]. We explore vaccine strategies which target the HA protein for development of a universal influenza vaccine, with a particular focus on novel antigen design of HA to improve cross-reactive immunity
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