title: Immunological assessment of plant-derived avian flu H5/HA1 variants.
abstract: Polypeptide variants of the HA1 antigenic domain of the H5N1 avian influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) molecule were produced in plants using transient and stable expression systems and fused with His/c-myc tags or with mouse or human Fc antibody fragments. The resulting peptides were purified and used for intramuscular immunization of mice. While the recombinant HA1 variants induced a significant serum humoral immune response in the mice, none of the HA1 preparations induced virus-neutralizing antibodies. Fusion with the Fc fragment improved overall yield of the constructs and allowed purification requiring only a single step, but led to no detectable fusion-related enhancement of immunogenicity or quality of immune response.
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107-6799, United States.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spitsin
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Andrianov
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pogrebnyak
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Smirnov
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Borisjuk
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Portocarrero
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Veguilla
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Koprowski
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Golovkin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D001717:Birds; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053124:Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype / Q000276:immunology*; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D007252:Influenza Vaccines; D010940:Plant Proteins