Enhancing Vaccine Immunogenicity of H9N2 Influenza HA by Locking Its Pre-Fusion Conformation via Cleavage Site Engineering.

ABSTRACT: Avian influenza (AI) significantly threatens poultry health and causes major economic losses in the poultry industry. Vaccination remains crucial for AI prevention and control. The major protective epitopes of influenza viruses are located on hemagglutinin (HA), a surface glycoprotein essential for viral infection. Most influenza vaccines induce neutralizing antibodies against HA to block viral entry. HA maturation requires the HA0 precursor to be proteolytically cleaved at a conserved site by host proteases to yield HA1 and HA2 subunits. A subsequent acidic condition triggers HA conformational changes, enabling viral-host membrane fusion. However, whether HA conformational variations affect immunogenicity remains unclear. In this study, the cleavage site of the HA gene from an H9N2 avian

SUBMITTER: Xu X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12945172 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature