Acidic Treatment for Influenza HA Stem Region Exposure

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Current influenza HA vaccines often fail to induce antibodies that effectively bind to the HA stem region, leading to inadequate protection against antigenically varied virus strains, as the stem region is less prone to variation but harder to stabilize.

Innovation Solution

An acidic treatment method is applied to the influenza HA split vaccine, exposing the HA stem region and stabilizing it, which induces antibodies that bind to the long alpha helix of the stem region, providing protection against antigenically varied viruses.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a conventional influenza HA vaccine is used, then the vaccine can be produced with standard methods, but it fails to induce antibodies that effectively bind to the HA stem region

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprotective effect against infectionVSAvoidantibody binding specificity to stem region

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies acidic treatment (pH adjustment) to the influenza HA split vaccine to induce conformational changes in the HA protein. This parameter change exposes and stabilizes the HA stem region, enabling antibodies to bind effectively to this previously inaccessible area, thereby resolving the contradiction between standard production and stem region antibody induction

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Adaptability or versatility

If the HA stem region is targeted for antibody induction, then cross-protection against antigenic variation is improved, but the stem region is inherently unstable and difficult to stabilize

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecross-protection against antigenic variationVSAvoidstem region stability

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The patent performs preliminary acidic treatment on the influenza HA split vaccine before administration. This preliminary action stabilizes the HA stem region conformation in advance, making it accessible and stable for antibody binding. This resolves the contradiction by pre-stabilizing the otherwise unstable stem region, enabling cross-protective antibody induction

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

The method effectively produces an influenza HA split vaccine that induces antibodies binding to the HA stem region, enhancing cross-protective capabilities against antigenically varied influenza viruses, with improved binding capacity and protective effects.

Implementation Method 1

subjecting an influenza HA split vaccine to an acidic treatment, thereby producing an influenza HA split vaccine which produces an antibody that binds to a long alpha helix (LAH) of a HA stem region

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectAcidic treatment:

Data Source

PatentUS11732031B2Method for producing influenza HA split vaccine

Publication Date: 2023.08.22 JAPAN AS REPRESENTED BY DIRECTOR GENERAL OF NAT INST OF INFECT IOUS DISEASES

AI summary

Provided is a method for producing an influenza HA split vaccine which produces an antibody that binds to a HA stem region of influenza, the HA stem region being less likely to cause antigenic variation, An influenza HA split vaccine is subjected to an acidic treatment. Through the acidic treatment, an influenza HA split vaccine which produces an antibody that binds to a LAH of the HA stem region is obtained. This influenza HA split vaccine has an excellent protective ability against infection of other influenza viruses of different antigenicity.