- K. Nerome, Toshifumi Imagawa, S. Sugita, Youta Arasaki, Ken-ichi Maegawa, K. Kawasaki, Tsuyoshi Tanaka, Shinji Watanabe, H. Nishimura, Tetsuro Suzuki, K. Kuroda, I. Kosugi, Z. Kajiura. 2022. The potential of a universal influenza virus-like particle vaccine expressing a chimeric cytokine. Abstract: Herein, a virus-like particle vaccine with chimeric cytokine shows the protective efficacy against different strains of influenza virus, laying the foundation for designing a universal influenza vaccine. The efficacy of the current influenza vaccines is frequently reduced because of antigenic drift, a trade-off of developing improved vaccines with broad cross-protective activity against influenza A viruses. In this study, we have successfully constructed a chimeric cytokine (CC) comprising the M2 protein, influenza A neuraminidase stalk, and interleukin-12. We produced virus-like particles (VLPs) containing CC and influenza hemagglutinin (HA) proteins using a baculovirus system in Eri silkworm pupae. The protective efficacy of the CCHA-VLP vaccine was evaluated in mice. The CCFkH5HA-VLP vaccine increased the survival rates of BALB/c mice, infected with a lethal dose of PRH1 and HKH5 viruses, to 80% and 100%, respectively. The results suggested that CCHA-VLP successfully induced potent cross-reactive protective immunity against infection with homologous and heterologous subtypes of the influenza A virus. This is the first study to design a CC-containing HA-VLP vaccine and validate its protective efficacy.
