Georgia State University researchers create, demonstrate universal flu vaccine on mice

A study created by the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University and funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has demonstrated the promise of a new, universal flu vaccine, displaying long-lasting protection against six influenza viruses.

The study focused on mice. The vaccine in use combined two major influenza proteins, creating a double-layered nanoparticle vaccine. It was introduced into mice before they were exposed to the influenza strains, but its protections lasted up to four months after these immunizations.

“This nanoparticle antigen combination conferred mice with strong cross protection,” Ye Wang, first author of the study and a biology Ph.D. student at GSU, said. “It can protect mice from different strains of influenza virus. Each season, we have different flu strains that affect us. By using this approach, we hope this nanoparticle vaccine can protect humans from different strains of influenza virus.”

Therein lies the researchers’ ultimate hope: to create a vaccine capable of replacing the need for vaccinations each season through universal protection. It is the virus proteins M2e and NA that allow this sort of hope in the vaccine — they are what the vaccine is based on and, unlike hemagglutinin-based vaccines, mutate only slowly.

“It’s important to mention that a lot of flu vaccines haven’t focused on NA before,” Gilbert Gonzalez, study co-author, said. “NA is becoming a more important antigen for influenza vaccine research. Previously, it had been ignored or discounted because hemagglutinin (HA) is much more dominant. When you get a flu infection, your body reacts to the HA.”

Study results were published in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials. From here, the researchers hope to load their new universal vaccine onto microneedle patches and begin skin vaccination.