Recent research suggests that the longtime dream of a universal flu vaccine could eventually come true. Instead of targeting the tips of the surface proteins, this kind of vaccine would target a part of the virus that doesn’t change so easily. Scientists have discovered that the stems of the surface proteins change very little. A stem vaccine might provide protection against many different kinds of flu—protection that could last for years or decades. To test this idea, scientists have engineered antibodies that latch tightly to the stems. So far, mice injected with these stem antibodies can resist infection—not just by one strain but by many. If scientists can create a vaccine that provokes us to make these stem antibodies, they could provide broad protection against the flu.
At the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City, Peter Palese is leading experiments to get mice and ferrets to make their own stem antibodies. The researchers have tried various methods, including the same one used to make Flublok—insect cells churning out surface proteins. But the cells engineer the proteins in a special way, creating several different forms. Each form has a tip from a different strain of flu, while they all have the same stem. When Palese and his colleagues inject this cocktail into an animal, its immune system is exposed to many protein tips, but the same stem. So the immune system responds with an abundance of stem antibodies. Palese and his colleagues have injected a wide range of flu strains into vaccinated animals. In every case, the animals can fight off a lethal dose.
Fauci and other researchers hope to push this research toward clinical trials in humans. If a universal vaccine proves to be safe and effective, doctors might eventually be able to dispense it every few years, or just a couple of times to children for lifetime protection. The vaccine might protect against new flu pandemics, doing away with the dangerous lag time currently required for making new vaccines. “We could actually get ahead of pandemics,” Osterholm says.
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At the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City, Peter Palese is leading experiments to get mice and ferrets to make their own stem antibodies. The researchers have tried various methods, including the same one used to make Flublok—insect cells churning out surface proteins. But the cells engineer the proteins in a special way, creating several different forms. Each form has a tip from a different strain of flu, while they all have the same stem. When Palese and his colleagues inject this cocktail into an animal, its immune system is exposed to many protein tips, but the same stem. So the immune system responds with an abundance of stem antibodies. Palese and his colleagues have injected a wide range of flu strains into vaccinated animals. In every case, the animals can fight off a lethal dose.
Fauci and other researchers hope to push this research toward clinical trials in humans. If a universal vaccine proves to be safe and effective, doctors might eventually be able to dispense it every few years, or just a couple of times to children for lifetime protection. The vaccine might protect against new flu pandemics, doing away with the dangerous lag time currently required for making new vaccines. “We could actually get ahead of pandemics,” Osterholm says.
- More Here
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