Universal Influenza Vaccine

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Introduction: Influenza virus is associated with more than 35 million symptomatic illnesses and 20000 fatalities during the 2019-2020 season in the U.S. Influenza viruses are continuously evolving into different variants with distinct antigenic surfaces so that an individual’s existing antibodies won’t effectively recognize and neutralize the antigen if infected. This kind of change (called “antigenic shift”) can happen when animal-origin viruses gain the ability to infect human. There is an unmet need to develop universal influenza vaccines that can protect us from antigenic shift. Technology: Georgia State University researchers designed and constructed a new influenza universal vaccine based on virus-like particle (VLP) that contains tandem repeats of M2E consisting of M2e sequences from multiple strains in a membrane-anchored form. The extracellular domain of flu ion-channel M2 (M2e) is a protein that is well conserved among different influenza A virus strains. M2E sequences originated from influenza A viruses of human, swine, and avian are included in this construct. Animal data suggest that the heterologous tandem repeats of M2e on VLPs was capable of broadening and extending cross-reactivity after vaccination. Intramuscular immunization with this M2e VLP universal vaccine was highly effective in inducing M2e-specific antibodies reactive to different influenza viruses, both mucosal and systemic immune responses, and provides cross-protection even in the absence of an adjuvant.