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Nucleoside-Modified mRNA-Based Influenza Vaccines Circumvent Problems Associated with H3N2 Vaccine Strain Egg Adaptation - ASM Journals

Mary Wilson

Well-known member
19 December 2022

Authors: Sigrid Gouma, Colleen Furey, Jefferson J. S.Santos, Kaela Parkhouse, Madison Weirick, HiromiMuramatsu, Norbert Pardi, Steven H. Y. Fan, DrewWeissman, Scott E. Hensley

ABSTRACT

Most human influenza vaccine antigens are produced in fertilized chicken eggs. Recent H3N2 egg-based vaccine antigens have limited effectiveness, partially due to egg-adaptive substitutions that alter the antigenicity of the hemagglutinin (HA) protein. The nucleoside-modified mRNA encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (mRNA-LNP) vaccine platform is a promising alternative for egg-based influenza vaccines because mRNA-LNP-derived antigens are not subject to adaptive pressures that arise during the production of antigens in chicken eggs. Here, we compared H3N2-specific antibody responses in mice vaccinated with either 3c.2A H3-encoding mRNA-LNP or a conventional egg-based Fluzone vaccine (which included an egg-adapted 3c.2A antigen) supplemented with an MF59-like adjuvant. We tested mRNA-LNP encoding wild-type and egg-adapted H3 antigens. We found that mRNA-LNP encoding wild-type H3 elicited antibodies that neutralized the wild-type 3c.2A H3N2 virus more effectively than antibodies elicited by mRNA-LNP encoding egg-adapted H3 or the egg-based Fluzone vaccine. mRNA-LNP expressing either wild-type or egg-adapted H3 protected mice against infection with the wild-type 3c2.A H3N2, whereas the egg-based Fluzone vaccine did not. We found that both mRNA-LNP vaccines elicited high levels of group 2 HA stalk-reactive antibodies, which likely contributed to protection in vivo. Our studies indicate that nucleoside-modified mRNA-LNP-based vaccines can circumvent problems associated with egg adaptations with recent 3c2.A H3N2 viruses.

https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/jvi.01723-22
 
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