Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have discovered a vaccine candidate, which elicits strong antibody response to hemagglutinin (HA) stalk. Unlike seasonal vaccines this new vaccine could be given few times over a lifetime. It was seen that it protected mice from infection by various flu strains like H1 flu virus, a distantly related H1 flu virus, and an H5 strain. The researchers used mRNA molecules that encode HA proteins instead of using conventional flu HA proteins.
When injected into a recipient, these RNAs are taken up by dendritic cells and translate into copies of the HA protein. This protein mimics real flu infection and elicits strong and protective antibody response. The strong response included antibodies against the lower stalk region of the HA which is a favoured target for universal flu vaccines as it doesn’t vary from one flu to another. It was also found…
