Epitope-focused vaccine design against influenza A and B viruses.

Epitope-focused vaccine design against influenza A and B viruses. Curr Opin Immunol. 2016 Jun 22;42:83-90 Authors: Ren H, Zhou P Abstract The threat of influenza A and B variants via antigenic drift and emerging novel influenza A and B strains in the human population via antigenic shift has spurred research efforts to improve upon current seasonal influenza vaccines. In recent years, a wave of novel technological breakthroughs has lead to the identification of many broadly anti-influenza hemagglutinin (HA) monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and the elucidation of the conserved epitopes recognized by these mAbs in both the head and the stem of HA as well as the mechanisms of inhibition. These discoveries along with an improved understanding of how the immune system responds to influenza infection and vaccination has spurred great efforts on stem-based cross-subtype ('universal') vaccine design as well as RBS-based HA subtype-specific vaccine design. PMID: 27343703 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Current Opinion in Immunology - Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Tags: Curr Opin Immunol Source Type: research