Novel purification strategies for Influenza neuraminidase-VLPs

Conventional Influenza virus vaccines reduce the risk of flu illness by between 40% and 60% among the overall population. They are all standardized based on the influenza hemagglutinin (HA) content and focus on the induction of HA-specific neutralizing antibodies. However, in contrast to natural infection, seasonal vaccination fails to induce an efficient immune response to the Influenza virus neuraminidase (NA), the second most abundant viral glycoprotein. A potential solution to this problem would be to supplement current vaccines with a correctly folded, tetrameric recombinant NA protein, or alternatively, with bio-nanoparticles that display the tetrameric NA on an outer membrane. Vaccines that incorporate standardized amounts of NA might lead to broader and longer-lasting protection against influenza infection. Please click Download on the upper right corner to see the full abstract