The influenza virus hemagglutinin head evolves faster than the stalk domain.

ABSTRACT: The limited ability of current influenza virus vaccines to protect from antigenically drifted or shifted viruses creates a public health problem that has led to the need to develop effective, broadly protective vaccines. While current influenza virus vaccines mostly induce an immune response against the immunodominant and variable head domain of the hemagglutinin, the major surface glycoprotein of the virus, the hemagglutinin stalk domain has been identified to harbor neutralizing B-cell epitopes that are conserved among and even between influenza A virus subtypes. A complete understanding of the differences in evolution between the main target of current vaccines and this more conserved stalk region are missing. Here, we performed an evolutionary analysis of the stalk domains of the hemag

SUBMITTER: Kirkpatrick E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6041311 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature