title: An M2e-based synthetic peptide vaccine for influenza A virus confers heterosubtypic protection from lethal virus challenge.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Vaccination is considered as the most effective preventive method to control influenza. The hallmark of influenza virus is the remarkable variability of its major surface glycoproteins, HA and NA, which allows the virus to evade existing anti-influenza immunity in the target population. So it is necessary to develop a novel vaccine to control animal influenza virus. Also we know that the ectodomain of influenza matrix protein 2 (M2e) is highly conserved in animal influenza A viruses, so a vaccine based on the M2e could avoid several drawbacks of the traditional vaccines. In this study we designed a novel tetra-branched multiple antigenic peptide (MAP) based vaccine, which was constructed by fusing four copies of M2e to one copy of foreign T helper (Th) cell epitope, and then investigated its immune responses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results show that the M2e-MAP induced strong M2e-specific IgG antibody,which responses following 2 doses immunization in the presence of Freunds' adjuvant. M2e-MAP vaccination limited viral replication substantially. Also it could attenuate histopathological damage in the lungs of challenged mice and counteracted weight loss. M2e-MAP-based vaccine protected immunized mice against the lethal challenge with PR8 virus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on these findings, M2e-MAP-based vaccine seemed to provide useful information for the research of M2e-based influenza vaccine. Also it show huge potential to study vaccines for other similarly viruses.
authors.affiliation: Division of Swine Infectious Diseases, Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai 200241, China.
authors.forename: Ji-Hong
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Fu-Ru
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Yan-Jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Guo-Xin
authors.initials: GX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Guangzhi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tong
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D001835:Body Weight; D056738:Cross Protection; D005260:Female; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009976:Orthomyxoviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology; D016019:Survival Analysis; D022223:Vaccines, Subunit / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology; D019562:Viral Load; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007252:Influenza Vaccines; C488936:M1 protein, Influenza A virus; D022223:Vaccines, Subunit; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins