Abstracts Category : Other

Development and application of polyclonal antibody based proximity ligation assays in detecting antigenic variants of influenza A viruses

by Brigitte Elizabeth Martin

Influenza A virus (IAV) is a zoonotic pathogen which consists of a large genetically and antigenically diverse viral population. Swine IAVs not only cause disease outbreaks among swine, but can also be transmitted to humans, causing sporadic infections and even pandemic outbreaks apart from human seasonal IAV. Antigenic variant identification is fundamental for an effective vaccination program. Red blood cell based immunological tests have been used to identify antigenic variants among circulating IAV strains. Because these assays require viral isolation, they are time consuming and labor intensive. Thus only limited numbers of virus isolates are subjected to antigenic characterization in influenza surveillance studies and much of this important information is lost. In this project, a novel polyclonal antibody based proximity ligation assays (polyPLA) was developed and validated to characterize IAV antigenic variants directly using clinical samples. The application of this method with clinical samples from influenza surveillance had aided in the understanding of the antigenic evolution of IAV in human and swine populations. Advisors/Committee Members: Xiu-Feng (Henry) Wan (committee member), Larry Hanson (committee member), Jeffrey B. Eells (committee member), G. Todd Pharr (committee member).