Gene Therapy Protects Rodents from Severe Pandemic Human Influenza

Influenza vaccines traditionally target the constantly changing globular head of the viral hemagglutinin protein, which means that a new vaccine is needed each year. Similarly, when a new pandemic strain suddenly emerges, producing enough vaccine in time to stop an epidemic is impossible, as we saw with the 2009 H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic.

In the past few years, several laboratories have described “broadly neutralizing” antibodies (directed against a region of the stem of the hemagglutinin protein). The stem region doesn't mutate frequently and is similar across all flu viruses (JW Gen Med Sep 27 2011). A team from the University of Pennsylvania inserted genes for such broadly neutralizing antibodies into an adenoviral gene-therapy vector. Th…