Isolation of egg-adapted influenza A(H3N2) virus without amino acid substitutions in the antigenic sites of its hemagglutinin.

Isolation of egg-adapted influenza A(H3N2) virus without amino acid substitutions in the antigenic sites of its hemagglutinin.
Jpn J Infect Dis. 2018 Apr 27;:
Authors: Kuwahara T, Takashita E, Fujisaki S, Shirakura M, Nakamura K, Kishida N, Takahashi H, Suzuki N, Kawaoka Y, Watanabe S, Odagiri T
Abstract
Antigenic changes in the hemagglutinin protein of recent A(H3N2) viruses are often induced when these viruses adapt to their egg hosts. We have successfully isolated an egg-adapted influenza A(H3N2) virus, A/Saitama/103/2014, without amino acid substitutions in the antigenic sites of its hemagglutinin protein but multiple substitutions in its neuraminidase protein by serial egg passages of a cell-propagated virus. Antigenic analysis of this egg-adapted A/Saitama/103/2014 virus indicated that its antigenicity did not change from the WHO prototype cell-propagated vaccine virus, A/Hong Kong/4801/2014. Our results suggest that this strategy may facilitate egg-based vaccine production without antigenic alterations in HA by egg adaptation.
PMID: 29709975 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases - April 27, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Kuwahara T, Takashita E, Fujisaki S, Shirakura M, Nakamura K, Kishida N, Takahashi H, Suzuki N, Kawaoka Y, Watanabe S, Odagiri T Tags: Jpn J Infect Dis Source Type: research