Influenza is a major health threat, and a broadly protective influenza vaccine would be a significant advance. Signal Minus FLU (S-FLU) is a candidate broadly protective influenza vaccine that is limited to a single cycle of replication, which induces a strong cross-reactive T cell response but a minimal Ab response to hemagglutinin after intranasal or aerosol administration. We tested whether an H3N2 S-FLU can protect pigs and ferrets from heterosubtypic H1N1 influenza challenge. Aerosol administration of S-FLU to pigs induced lung tissue-resident memory T cells and reduced lung pathology but not the viral load. In contrast, in ferrets, S-FLU reduced viral replication and aerosol transmission. Our data show that S-FLU has different protective efficacy in pigs and ferrets, and that in the absence of Ab, lung T cell immunity can reduce disease severity without reducing challenge viral replication.
Journal article
J Immunol
15/06/2018
200
4068 - 4077
Administration, Intranasal, Animals, Antibodies, Viral, Cross Reactions, Ferrets, Hemagglutinins, Humans, Immunity, Immunologic Memory, Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype, Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype, Influenza Vaccines, Orthomyxoviridae Infections, Swine, T-Lymphocytes, Vaccination, Virus Replication