Immunization with cross-conserved H1N1 influenza CD4+ T-cell epitopes lowers viral burden in HLA DR3 transgenic mice.

ABSTRACT: The emergence of the pandemic H1N1 strain of influenza in 2009 was associated with a unique w-shaped age-related susceptibility curve, with higher incidence of morbidity and mortality among young persons and lower incidence among older persons, also observed during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Pre-existing H1N1 antibodies were not cross-reactive with the prior seasonal vaccine, forcing influenza experts to scramble to develop a new vaccine specific for the pandemic virus. We hypothesized that response to T-cell epitopes that are cross-conserved between pandemic H1N1 and the 2008 seasonal influenza vaccine strains might have contributed to partial protection from clinical illness among older adults, despite the lack of cross-reactive humoral immunity. Using immunoinformatics tools, we previ

SUBMITTER: Moise L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3906390 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature