The molecular determinants of antigenic drift in a novel avian influenza A (H9N2) variant virus.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In early 2020, a novel H9N2 AIV immune escape variant emerged in South China and rapidly spread throughout mainland China. The effectiveness of the current H9N2 vaccine is being challenged by emerging immune escape strains. Assessing key amino acid substitutions that contribute to antigenic drift and immune escape in the HA gene of circulating strains is critical for understanding virus evolution and in selecting more effective vaccine components.

Methods

In this study, a representative immune escape strain, A/chicken/Fujian/11/2020 (FJ/20), differed from current H9N2 vaccine strain, A/chicken/Anhui/LH99/2017 (AH/17) by 18 amino acids in the head domain in HA protein. To investigate the molecular determinants of antigenic drift of FJ/20, a panel of mutants were ge

SUBMITTER: Zheng Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8817646 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature