title: Strain identification of commercial influenza vaccines by mass spectrometry.
abstract: Current influenza vaccine manufacturing and testing timelines require that the constituent hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) strains be selected each year approximately 10 months before the vaccine becomes available. The threat of a pandemic influenza outbreak requires that more rapid testing methods be found. We have developed a specialized on-filter sample preparation method that uses both trypsin and chymotrypsin to enzymatically digest peptide-N-glycosidase F (PNGase F)-deglycosylated proteins in vaccines. In tandem with replicate liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analyses, this approach yields sufficient protein sequencing data (>85% sequence coverage on average) for strain identification of HA and NA components. This has allowed the confirmation, and in some cases the correction, of the identity of the influenza strains in recent commercial vaccines as well as the correction of some ambiguous HA sequence annotations in available databases. This method also allows the identification of low-level contaminant egg proteins produced during the manufacturing process.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Vaccine Evaluation, Biologics and Genetic Therapies Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0K9.
authors.forename: Marybeth C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Creskey
authors.forename: Daryl G S
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Terry D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Cyr
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D030161:Avian Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002645:Chickens; D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009439:Neuraminidase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D009975:Orthomyxoviridae / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010103:Oxygen Isotopes; D043524:Peptide-N4-(N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminyl) Asparagine Amidase / Q000378:metabolism; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D030161:Avian Proteins; D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus; D007252:Influenza Vaccines; D010103:Oxygen Isotopes; D014867:Water; D009439:Neuraminidase; D043524:Peptide-N4-(N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminyl) Asparagine Amidase