Fluorescence Adherence Inhibition Assay: A Novel Functional Assessment of Blocking Virus Attachment by Vaccine-Induced Antibodies.

Neutralizing antibodies induced by vaccination or natural infection play a critically important role in protection against the viral diseases. In general, neutralization of the viral infection occurs via two major pathways: pre- and post-attachment modes, the first being the most important for such infections as influenza and polio, the latter being significant for filoviruses. Neutralizing capacity of antibodies is typically evaluated by virus neutralization assays that assess reduction of viral infectivity to the target cells in the presence of functional antibodies.

Neuraminidase-inhibiting antibody is a correlate of cross-protection against lethal H5N1 influenza virus in ferrets immunized with seasonal influenza vaccine.

In preparing for the threat of a pandemic of avian H5N1 influenza virus, we need to consider the significant delay (4 to 6 months) necessary to produce a strain-matched vaccine. As some degree of cross-reactivity between seasonal influenza vaccines and H5N1 virus has been reported, this was further explored in the ferret model to determine the targets of protective immunity. Ferrets were vaccinated with two intramuscular inoculations of trivalent inactivated split influenza vaccine or subcomponent vaccines, with and without adjuvant, and later challenged with a lethal dose of A/Vietnam/1203/2004 (H5N1) influenza virus.

Simultaneous measurements of auto-immune and infectious disease specific antibodies using a high throughput multiplexing tool.

Considering importance of ganglioside antibodies as biomarkers in various immune-mediated neuropathies and neurological disorders, we developed a high throughput multiplexing tool for the assessment of gangliosides-specific antibodies based on Biolpex/Luminex platform. In this report, we demonstrate that the ganglioside high throughput multiplexing tool is robust, highly specific and demonstrating ∼100-fold higher concentration sensitivity for IgG detection than ELISA. In addition to the ganglioside-coated array, the high throughput multiplexing tool contains beads coated with influenza hemagglutinins derived from H1N1 A/Brisbane/59/07 and H1N1 A/California/07/09 strains.

New tests for an old foe: an update on influenza screening.

The standard in vitro assays used for the generation and characterization of antibodies that bind and neutralize the influenza virus have not been modified significantly in many years. The use of cultured human cells has been instrumental in understanding the basis of the immune response, and the in vitro generation of influenza-specific antibodies may be used to provide novel insights into the selection of potential vaccines. Furthermore, the essential functional assays that evaluate the antibody response have several features that could be improved, including increased sensitivity, the ability to use an inactivated virus, the automation and mechanization of analytic readouts, and inter-laboratory consistency.

An immunologic model for rapid vaccine assessment -- a clinical trial in a test tube.

While the duration and size of human clinical trials may be difficult to reduce, there are several parameters in pre-clinical vaccine development that may be possible to further optimise. By increasing the accuracy of the models used for pre-clinical vaccine testing, it should be possible to increase the probability that any particular vaccine candidate will be successful in human trials. In addition, an improved model will allow the collection of increasingly more-informative data in pre-clinical tests, thus aiding the rational design and formulation of candidates entered into clinical evaluation.