Structural basis for immunization with postfusion respiratory syncytial virus fusion F glycoprotein (RSV F) to elicit high neutralizing antibody titers.

ABSTRACT: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the main cause of infant bronchiolitis, remains a major unmet vaccine need despite more than 40 years of vaccine research. Vaccine candidates based on a chief RSV neutralization antigen, the fusion (F) glycoprotein, have foundered due to problems with stability, purity, reproducibility, and potency. Crystal structures of related parainfluenza F glycoproteins have revealed a large conformational change between the prefusion and postfusion states, suggesting that postfusion F antigens might not efficiently elicit neutralizing antibodies. We have generated a homogeneous, stable, and reproducible postfusion RSV F immunogen that elicits high titers of neutralizing antibodies in immunized animals. The 3.2-Å X-ray crystal structure of this substantially complete

SUBMITTER: Swanson KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3111287 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature