High conservation level of CD8 T cell immunogenic regions within an unusual H1N2 human influenza variant

Abstract

Current seasonal influenza vaccines require regular updates due to antigenic drift causing loss of effectiveness and therefore providing little or no protection against novel influenza A subtypes. Next generation vaccines capable of eliciting CD8+ T cell (CTL) mediated cross-protective immunity may offer a long-term alternative strategy. However, measuring pre- and existing levels of CTL cross-protection in humans is confounded by differences in infection histories across individuals. During 2000–2003, H1N2 viruses circulated persistently in the human population for the first time and we hypothesized that the viral nucleoprotein (NP) contained novel CTL epitopes that may have contributed to ..