News Releases & Research Results Study develops a method to elicit antibodies protective against various types of influenza ― Application to a universal influenza vaccine is expected ―

Results of research and development by a group of Director Yoshimasa Takahashi, Chief Researcher Yu Adachi, and others of the Department of Immunology, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.

• The team discovered hemagglutinin antibodies (*) that protect against various subtypes of influenza and identified a modified antigen that can more easily elicit such antibodies.
  * Hemagglutinin antibodies (HA antibodies): major protective antigens contained in the current influenza vaccines and are widely used as a protective immunity parameter correlated with the effectiveness of the vaccine.
• This discovery and identification is expected to help develop a universal influenza vaccine that protects against all influenza type A viruses.

This research and development was conducted with the support of Research Program on Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases by AMED.

The results of research and development were published on August 28 in Nature Communications.

Adachi Y., et al. Exposure of an occluded hemagglutinin epitope drives selection of a class of cross-protective influenza antibodies, Nature Communications
DOI：10.1038/s41467-019-11821-6