Inactivation of avian influenza viruses by hydrostatic pressure as a potential vaccine development approach

Abstract

Vaccines are a recommended strategy for controlling influenza A infections in humans and animals. Here, we describe the effects of hydrostatic pressure on the structure, morphology and functional characteristics of avian influenza A H3N8 virus. The effect of hydrostatic pressure for 3 h on H3N8 virus revealed that the particles were resistant to this condition, and the virus displayed only a discrete conformational change. We found that pressure of 3 kbar applied for 6 h was able to inhibit haemagglutination and infectivity while virus replication was no longer observed, suggesting that full virus inactivation occurred at this point. However, the neuraminidase activity was not affected at this approach suggesting the maintenance of neutralizing antibody epitopes in this key antigen. Our data bring important information for the area of structural virology of enveloped particles and support the idea of applying pressure-induced inactivation as a tool for vaccine production.

Combined Effects of Pressure and Ionic Strength on Protein–Protein Interactions: An Empirical Approach

“…Protein solutions can experience a variety of natural and artificial environments, spanning ranges of temperature, pressure, ionic strength, and pH . Due to limitations of the instrumentation available, high hydrostatic pressure (HP) is arguably the least used parameter to manipulate biomolecular structures and colloidal stability, despite its common application in microbial inactivation of heat-sensitive foods and drug formulations. , There are, nonetheless, recent and ongoing efforts toward expanding measurement capabilities in the range of 100–1000 MPa, including, e.g., small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering, NMR, crystallography, and fluorescence. These advances reflect an increasing awareness of the advantages of pressure beyond its prevalent use in sterilization …”