Innovations
Glycan-masking & glycan-unmasking hemagglutinin antigens for universal influenza vaccine development
■Technology IntroductionThe invention provides a glycan-masking and/or glycan-unmasking hemagglutinin, wherein the glycosylation site(s) is added on globular head or removed on stem. The glycan-masking and/or glycan-unmasking hemagglutinin may induce neutralizing antibody against influenza virus, and cross-reactive protection against different subtye viruses. The invention also provides a method for manufacturing these antigens for universal influenza vaccine development. ■Scientific Innovation The hemagglutinin is the major antigen to elicit neutralizing antibody and protective immunity against influenza virus infection. We invented the site-specific glycan-unmasking and/or glycan-masking methods on the hemagglutinin glycoprotein, wherein the glycosylation site(s) is removed on the conserved stem region or added on the hypervariable globular head region. The glycan-unmasking and/or glycan-masking hemagglutinin can be used as novel antigens to elicit broadly neutralizing antibody against influenza virus, and cross-reactive protection against different subtype viruses. The invention also provides a method for new antigen design for universal influenza vaccine development. ■This technology won the Futuretech Breakthrough Award in 2019 Future Tech Expo. ■Institutes National Tsing Hua University Ting-Hsuan (Adam) Chen/sadam1114@gmail.com |
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