TheByte

Mikael · 05-20-2009, 11:23 AM

by New Scientist Magazine
Tuesday April 21, 2009, 11:02 AM

The flu virus is a slippery customer, expert at escaping attack by our immune system. But there is a chink in its defenses that could lead to a universal flu vaccine.

We can get flu repeatedly because the virus evolves: Its surface proteins change, so the antibodies generated by one bout are not effective a second time. For the same reason, the vaccine for one year's strain won't work in later years. Now, Wayne Marasco at Harvard University and his team may have found a way around this.

The flu virus' main surface protein, haemagglutinin, is lollipop-shaped, and existing vaccines stimulate the production of antibodies that bind to its big round head -- which changes every year. But in a library of human antibodies, Marasco's team found a few that target proteins on the "stalk." These proteins barely change between flu strains, which suggests they don't evolve quickly.

Marasco's team suspected that the prominent head of the lollipop normally attracts the attention of the immune system away from the stalk. If the immune system could be persuaded to target the unchanging proteins on the stalk, they reasoned, it might be possible to provide protection year after year.

Full article: Harvard research team may be close to finding universal flu vaccine - Health and Fitness | Ohio Medical Consumer News – cleveland.com

05-20-2009, 11:23 AM	#1
Mikael Fanatic Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 1,839 Thanks: 828 Thanked 415 Times in 233 Posts	Harvard research team may be close to finding universal flu vaccine by New Scientist Magazine Tuesday April 21, 2009, 11:02 AM The flu virus is a slippery customer, expert at escaping attack by our immune system. But there is a chink in its defenses that could lead to a universal flu vaccine. We can get flu repeatedly because the virus evolves: Its surface proteins change, so the antibodies generated by one bout are not effective a second time. For the same reason, the vaccine for one year's strain won't work in later years. Now, Wayne Marasco at Harvard University and his team may have found a way around this. The flu virus' main surface protein, haemagglutinin, is lollipop-shaped, and existing vaccines stimulate the production of antibodies that bind to its big round head -- which changes every year. But in a library of human antibodies, Marasco's team found a few that target proteins on the "stalk." These proteins barely change between flu strains, which suggests they don't evolve quickly. Marasco's team suspected that the prominent head of the lollipop normally attracts the attention of the immune system away from the stalk. If the immune system could be persuaded to target the unchanging proteins on the stalk, they reasoned, it might be possible to provide protection year after year. Full article: Harvard research team may be close to finding universal flu vaccine - Health and Fitness \| Ohio Medical Consumer News – cleveland.com

Search Cloud