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A representation of a nanoparticle vaccine containing proteins from many different influenza strains. Credit: UW Medicine Institute for Protein Design
Scientists at UW Medicine and NIH have created experimental flu vaccines that boost broad immunity in animal trials.
Researchers have developed experimental influenza vaccines that protect animals against a wide variety of strains of seasonal and pandemic influenza. The vaccine product is currently in clinical testing. If proven safe and effective, these next-generation influenza vaccines could replace current seasonal options by providing protection against many other strains that current vaccines do not adequately cover.
A study detailing how the new influenza vaccines were designed and how they protect mice, ferrets and non-human primates appears in the March 24, 2021 edition of the journal. Nature. This work was carried out by researchers from Washington University School of Medicine and Vaccine
Research center part of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.
The influenza virus causes between 290,000 and 650,000 deaths per year. The available flu shots, which must be taken seasonally, often fail to protect against many of the disease-causing circulating flu strains, and the threat of another flu pandemic is looming.
Neil King, of the Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington School of Medicine and a researcher at the UW Medicine Institute for Protein Design, describes the development of an experimental nanoparticle vaccine against various strains of seasonal and pandemic influenza. Credit: Randy Carnell / UW Medicine
“Most of the influenza vaccines available today are quadrivalent, which means they are made from four different influenza strains. Each year, the World Health Organization makes a bet on the four most prevalent strains, but these predictions can vary widely in their precision. That’s why we often end up with “incompatible” influenza vaccines that are still helpful but only partially effective, ”said lead author Daniel Ellis, researcher in Neil King’s lab. King is an assistant professor of biochemistry at the UW School of Medicine and a researcher at the Institute for Protein Design at UW Medicine.
To create improved influenza vaccines, the team attached hemagglutinin proteins from four different influenza viruses to bespoke protein nanoparticles. This approach allowed an unprecedented level of control over the molecular configuration of the resulting vaccine and produced an improved immune response compared to conventional influenza vaccines. New nanoparticle vaccines, which contain the same four hemagglutinin proteins as commercially available quadrivalent influenza vaccines, elicited neutralizing antibody responses to vaccine-matched strains that were equivalent or superior to commercial vaccines in mice, ferrets and non-human primates. Nanoparticle vaccines – but not commercial vaccines – have also induced protective antibody responses against viruses not contained in the vaccine formulation. These include the H5N1 and H7N9 avian influenza viruses, which are considered pandemic threats.
“The responses our vaccine gives against strain-matched viruses are really strong, and the additional coverage we’ve seen against incompatible strains could reduce the risk of a bad flu season,” Ellis said.
Reference: March 24, 2021, Nature.
DOI: 10.1038 / s41586-021-03365-x
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