인플루엔자 연구방향

다양한 접근 방법으로 인플루엔자 유행을 제어하려는 기술개발이 이루어지고 있다. 특히 백신개발의 경우 매년 접종하는 백신이 아닌 한번 접종에 평생 면역으로 이어지는 유니버설 백신을 개발하기 위한 경쟁이 치열하다. 인플루엔자에서 가장 중요한 연구접근 방법으로 2013년 6월 Science Translational Medicine에 게재된 Gary Nabel 박사의 editorial 을 발체한다.

• Critical needs

  • Research that supports the rational design of immunogens that elicit long-lasting, high-affinity, broadly protective Abs

  • Development of easily performed assays capable of assessing potency of next-generation vaccines

  • Animal models that elicit broadly neutralizing Abs and thus permit study of their role in protecting against infection

  • Catalyzing of government and industry efforts to initiate large, potentially costly clinical trials for state-of-the-art vaccines devised from new research concepts

  Steps that can be taken to meet these challenges

  • Definition of the B cell biology required to evolve and maintain high-affinity antibody responses to influenza vaccines as a function of age

  • Elucidation of mechanisms of antiviral immunity conferred by broadly cross-reactive Abs

  • Optimization of influenza virus immunogens capable of inducing broadly cross-protective immunity

  • Development of animal models that better mimic the complexity and natural history of human immune responses to influenza virus infection and vaccine response

  • Clinical studies to assess the immune response to and outcomes of influenza infection (including retrospective studies of existing specimens that can be correlated with known outcomes in previous trials)

                                          (Science Translational Medicine 2013)