title: Protection against multiple subtypes of influenza viruses by virus-like particle vaccines based on a hemagglutinin conserved epitope.
abstract: We selected the conserved sequence in the stalk region of influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) trimmer, the long alpha helix (LAH), as the vaccine candidate sequence, and inserted it into the major immunodominant region (MIR) of hepatitis B virus core protein (HBc), and, by using the E. coli expression system, we prepared a recombinant protein vaccine LAH-HBc in the form of virus-like particles (VLP). Intranasal immunization of mice with this LAH-HBc VLP plus cholera toxin B subunit with 0.2% of cholera toxin (CTB(*)) adjuvant could effectively elicit humoral and cellular immune responses and protect mice against a lethal challenge of homologous influenza viruses (A/Puerto Rico/8/1934 (PR8) (H1N1)). In addition, passage of the immune sera containing specific antibodies to naïve mice rendered them resistant against a lethal homologous challenge. Immunization with LAH-HBc VLP vaccine plus CTB(*) adjuvant could also fully protect mice against a lethal challenge of the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus or the avian H9N2 virus and could partially protect mice against a lethal challenge of the avian H5N1 influenza virus. This study demonstrated that the LAH-HBc VLP vaccine based on a conserved sequence of the HA trimmer stalk region is a promising candidate vaccine for developing a universal influenza vaccine against multiple influenza viruses infections.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Biological Products, Shanghai 200052, China.
authors.forename: Shaoheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Biological Products, Shanghai 200052, China.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3621-2596
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: National Institutes for Food and Drug Control and WHO Collaborating Center for Standardization and Evaluation of Biologicals, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Changgui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, China.
authors.forename: Wenjie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Biological Products, Shanghai 200052, China.
authors.forename: Wenting
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Biological Products, Shanghai 200052, China.
authors.forename: Xueying
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Hunan, Changsha 410081, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Biological Products, Shanghai 200052, China ; College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Hunan, Changsha 410081, China.
authors.forename: Ze
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006388:Hemagglutinins / Q000276:immunology*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics; D007114:Immunization / Q000379:methods; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000276:immunology*; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009976:Orthomyxoviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D014611:Vaccination / Q000379:methods; D058425:Vaccines, Virus-Like Particle / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000939:Epitopes; D006388:Hemagglutinins; D007252:Influenza Vaccines; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D058425:Vaccines, Virus-Like Particle; D014758:Viral Core Proteins