introduction: in recent years, influenza viruses have caused moderate to severe infections all around the world while so far there is no influenza vaccine that can protect people with only one dose of injection. in this regard, producing a universal vaccine based on virus-like-particles (vlp) could be an ideal approach.  methods: in this study, the full-length orf of influenza hemagglutinin (ha...

We assessed whether influenza virus hemagglutinin stalk-based immunity protects ferrets against aerosol-transmitted H1N1 influenza virus infection. Immunization of ferrets by a universal influenza virus vaccine strategy based on viral vectors expressing chimeric hemagglutinin constructs induced stalk-specific antibody responses. Stalk-immunized ferrets were cohoused with H1N1-infected ferrets u...

Electrically controllable deoxyribonuclic acid (DNA) nanolevers are used to investigate the binding interaction between Influenza A/Aichi/2/1968 and peptide called “PeB”, which specifically binds viral surface protein hemagglutinin. PeB is immobilized on gold electrodes of a “switchSENSE” biochip by conjugation DNA-strands that hybridized complementary anchors. The surface-tethered DNA strand c...

Significant genetic variability in the head region of the influenza A hemagglutinin, the main target of current vaccines, makes it challenging to develop a long-lived seasonal influenza prophylaxis. Vaccines based on the conserved hemagglutinin stalk domain might provide broader cross-reactive immunity. However, this region of the hemagglutinin is immunosubdominant to the head region. Peptide-b...

The 1918 influenza pandemic caused more than 40 million deaths and likely resulted from the introduction and adaptation of a novel avian-like virus. Influenza A virus hemagglutinins are important in host switching and virulence. Avian-adapted influenza virus hemagglutinins bind sialic acid receptors linked via alpha2-3 glycosidic bonds, while human-adapted hemagglutinins bind alpha2-6 receptors...

Autoantibodies against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) are associated with autoimmune central nervous system diseases like acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM). For ADEM, it is speculated that a preceding infection is the trigger of the autoimmune response, but the mechanism connecting the infection to the production of MOG antibodies remains a mystery. We reasoned that the abi...

Two lectins were isolated from Wistaria floribunda seeds. One is a strong mitogen against human peripheal lymphocytes and has been purified in the previous paper (Toyo-Shima S., Y., Nakano K., Tonomura, A., and Osawa T. (1971) Biochemistry 10, 4457). The other, which is a strong hemagglutinin being devoid of mitogenic activity against normal lymphocytes, has been purified in this paper by affin...

The viruses that caused the three influenza pandemics of the twentieth century in 1918, 1957, and 1968 had distinct hemagglutinin receptor binding glycoproteins that had evolved the capacity to recognize human cell receptors. We have determined the structure of the H2 hemagglutinin from the second pandemic, the "Asian Influenza" of 1957. We compare it with the 1918 "Spanish Influenza" hemagglut...

BACKGROUND Porphyromonas gingivalis, a black-pigmented, gram-negative anaerobe, is found in periodontitis lesions and its presence in subgingival plaque significantly increases the risk for periodontitis. We have previously shown that patients with aggressive forms of periodontitis that are seropositive for P. gingivalis have less attachment loss than those that are seronegative. This suggests ...