Researchers have unveiled a new approach to flu vaccination that uses engineered baker's yeast to produce virus-like particles, offering protection in mice against multiple deadly influenza strains. The method, which targets the viral protein M2, could potentially replace the annual flu jab.
From chicken eggs to yeast
Currently, flu injections rely on an 80-year-old method that uses chicken eggs, a process that is costly. Most existing vaccines target the viral protein hemagglutinin (HA). The new yeast-based vaccine, called M2, uses a similar yeast to that found in the popular sandwich spread Marmite.
Professor Fei Wen, from the University of Michigan in the US, said: "I would definitely anticipate that the M2 vaccine provides broader and longer protection than the current HA-focused vaccines." She added: "Can it be even longer than that, like once in a lifetime? Possibly, or maybe people will need a booster when they get older."
Potential for oral vaccines
Professor Wen also suggested that engineered yeast strains could be "brewed" as oral vaccines for influenza and other diseases. "It sounds like science fiction, but we're very excited by the potential of this yeast-based vaccine production system," she said.
Influenza causes around 300,000 deaths and up to five million cases of severe illness globally each year, according to figures cited in the research.
Long-lasting protection
Early results from the mouse studies indicate the new method could provide "long-lasting protection" against a range of influenza strains, potentially ending the need for annual shots.
Trang Hoang, a graduate student at the University of Michigan, who focused on the M2 protein, said: "The influenza M2 protein is far less prone to mutation than HA. M2 has remained relatively conserved since the 1918 flu pandemic and shows high sequence conservation across human, swine, and avian influenza A strains."
The findings were recently presented to the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Chicago.
