As suggested by FCM results, antigen-specific CD4+and CD8+T cells showed a remarkable increase. numerous heterologous H1N1 influenza viruses as shown in the microneutralization assay. Additionally, both Th1- and Th2-biased cellular immune responses were elicited, with the Th1-biased response being stronger. Two doses of the H1c-mRNA-LNP vaccine could neutralize a panel of heterologous H1N1 influenza viruses and could confer protection in mice. Taken together, these findings suggest that the H1c-mRNA-LNP vaccine encoding a consensus full-length HA is a feasible strategy for developing a cross-protective vaccine against a panel of heterologous H1N1 influenza viruses. KEYWORDS:H1N1 influenza virus, hemagglutinin, mRNA vaccine, lipid nanoparticle, cross-protection, consensus sequence == Introduction == Influenza is caused by the influenza StemRegenin 1 (SR1) virus and has always been a threat to human health. Globally, seasonal influenza causes approximately 0.290.65 million respiratory-related deaths annually, and most of the affected people are aged above 65 years among adults and under 5 years among children[1]. Vaccination has been considered as an optimal and highly efficient strategy for preventing influenza. Seasonal influenza virus includes two influenza A subtypes (H1N1 and H3N2) and two influenza B lineages (Victoria and Yamagata), and current seasonal influenza vaccines contain these viruses as constituents[2]. Among all types of seasonal influenza viruses, the H1N1 subtype has been an important agent in several pandemics, leading to substantial burden on the economy and society[3,4]. Currently available licensed seasonal influenza vaccines specifically target the strains recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) each year. However, influenza viruses are likely to undergo mutation during circulation, which leads to an antigenic StemRegenin 1 (SR1) mismatch between StemRegenin 1 (SR1) the recommended strains and the circulating strains, thereby decreasing vaccines efficacy. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, influenza vaccines have only achieved a protection rate of 19%52% in recent decades [5]. Therefore, developing an influenza vaccine that is potent, quick, and effective and affords cross-protection has become a top priority. Influenza viruses are members of Orthomyxoviridae family, whose genome includes eight negative-sense single-stranded RNA segments encoding viral structural proteins and nonstructural proteins such as neuraminidase, hemagglutinin (HA), polymerase complex (PB2, PB1, and PA), matrix proteins 1 and 2 (M1 and M2), nonstructural proteins 1 (NS1), nuclear export protein (NEP), and nucleoprotein (NP)[2]. The surface glycoprotein HA, which is responsible for viral adsorption and invasion, contains the largest number of neutralizing epitopes and therefore serves as the main immunogen for influenza vaccines[6]. However, when the virus circulates in the body, the head of HA tends to accumulate additional mutations, which facilitates Rabbit Polyclonal to Collagen I the virus to elude from the immune system. Several studies have focused on the conserved regions in NP[7], M1,[7] M2e[8], and stem part of HA[9], which have the potential to serve as targets for universal vaccines. Despite many encouraging results in mouse models, vaccines based on these targets are incapable of inducing neutralizing antibodies and remain ineffective in preventing influenza infection. Therefore, the integral region, namely, HA, can serve as an ideal target for developing influenza vaccines against a wide range of viral subtypes. Several cross-protective vaccines have recently been developed using full-length HA sequences [1012], but these platforms were not optimal. Currently, various platforms are being applied for developing influenza virus vaccines, that is, live-attenuated vaccines, inactivated vaccines, recombinant subunit vaccines, viral vector vaccines, peptide vaccines, virus-like particles, DNA vaccines, and mRNA vaccines[13]. Among them, mRNA vaccine is a newly developed platform in recent years and has previously been used in the prevention of infectious diseases caused StemRegenin 1 (SR1) by rabies virus[14], human immunodeficiency virus[15], respiratory syncytial virus[16], Zika virus[17], or SARS-CoV-2[18]. To date, two mRNA vaccines (BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273) for COVID-19 have been licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration, and many others are being tested in clinical trials. When it comes to the application of the influenza vaccine, the mRNA vaccine has demonstrated numerous advantages over other vaccine types as a novel platform. First and foremost, the design is quick and flexible, and the production period is short [19]. Second, unlike DNA vaccines, mRNA vaccines are safe, with no risk of integrating into.