Skarlupka AL, Zhang X, Blas-Machado U, Sumner SF, Ross TM. Multi-Influenza HA Subtype Protection of Ferrets Vaccinated with an N1 COBRA-Based Neuraminidase.
Viruses 2023;
15:184. [PMID:
36680224 PMCID:
PMC9865009 DOI:
10.3390/v15010184]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2022] [Revised: 12/25/2022] [Accepted: 01/05/2023] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The influenza neuraminidase (NA) is a promising target for next-generation vaccines. Protection induced by vaccination with the computationally optimized broadly reactive NA antigen (N1-I COBRA NA) was characterized in both influenza serologically naive and pre-immune ferret models following H1N1 (A/California/07/2009, CA/09) or H5N1 (A/Vietnam/1203/2004, Viet/04) influenza challenges. The N1-I COBRA NA vaccine elicited antibodies with neutralizing ELLA activity against both seasonal and pandemic H1N1 influenza, as well as the H5N1 influenza virus. In both models, N1-I COBRA NA-vaccinated ferrets that were challenged with CA/09 virus had similar morbidity (weight loss and clinical symptoms) as ferrets vaccinated with the CA/09 HA control vaccine. There were significantly reduced viral titers compared to the mock-vaccinated control animals. Ferrets vaccinated with N1-I COBRA NA or Viet/04 NA vaccines were protected against the H5N1 virus infection with minimal clinical symptoms and negligible weight loss. In contrast, ferrets vaccinated with the CA/09 NA vaccine lost ~10% of their original body weight with 25% mortality. Vaccination with either HA or NA vaccines did not inhibit contact transmission of CA/09 virus to naïve cage mates. Overall, the N1-I COBRA vaccine elicited protective immune responses against both H1N1 and H5N1 infections and partially mitigated disease in contact-transmission receiving ferrets. These results indicate that the N1-I COBRA NA performed similarly to the CA/09 HA and NA positive controls. Therefore, the N1-I COBRA NA alone induces protection against viruses from both H5N1 and H1N1 subtypes, indicating its value as a vaccine component in broadly protective influenza vaccines.
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