Science Daily March 30, 2022
The highly conserved 24–amino acid ectodomain of M2 protein (M2e) is a leading candidate for a universal flu vaccine. However, its poor immunogenicity has been a major roadblock in its clinical development. An international team of researchers (Singapore, Australia) successfully leveraged a novel vaccine platform to deliver M2e to immune cells. This allowed them to prove that a single shot immunization containing M2e was able to trigger long-lasting immune responses that could protect effectively against multiple strains of the flu. They demonstrated that this approach significantly enhanced protective immune responses in the context of pre-existing flu immunity, especially in adult and elderly populations with past exposure to flu strains and have low levels of M2e-specific antibodies in their blood. According to the researchers the vaccine platform could be employed to tackle a multitude of diseases, including infectious diseases such as COVID-19. This new finding could lend itself to further development of vaccines for this, or any future, novel diseases…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE