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Method Article

Generating Recombinant Live-Attenuated Influenza Viruses for Vaccines

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July 8th, 2025

In This Article

Abstract

Source: Pérez-Girón, J. V. et al, Intranasal Administration of Recombinant Influenza Vaccines in Chimeric Mouse Models to Study Mucosal Immunity. J. Vis. Exp. (2015)

The video showcases a method to create cold-adapted recombinant influenza viruses. It involves transfecting human cells with bi-directional plasmids, followed by incubation at lower temperature incubation to yield viruses suitable for vaccine production, characterized by reduced replication in warmer conditions.

Protocol

1. Generation of Recombinant Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccines by Reverse Genetics

NOTE: The detailed protocol for the generation of recombinant influenza viruses by reverse genetics has been described by previous studies and is out of the scope of this report. Briefly, rescue of cold-adapted influenza vaccines (CAV) is done in a biosafety class II cabinet under biosafety level 2 (BSL2) containment, and involves steps detailed below.

  1. Generate a reassortant cold-adapted influenza vaccine using as background the cold-adapted strain A/Ann Arbor/6/60 (H2N2), as well as the hemagglutinin (HA) and a ....

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Results

Viral amplification diagram: Multi-transfection, MDCK-293T co-culture, chicken egg inoculation.
Figure 1. Engineering of traceable LAIVs. (A) Influenza segments cloned in ambisense plasmids were transfected into 293T cells using Lipofectamine 2000. 24 hr after transfection, supernatants obtained from 293T cells were used to coat influe.......

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Disclosures

No conflicts of interest declared.

Materials

List of materials used in this article
NameCompanyCatalog NumberComments
Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM 1X)Gibco RL-Life Technologies41965-039
Opti MEMGibco RL-Life Technologies31985-047
Lipofectamine 2000Invitrogen-Life Technologies11668-027
Penicillin-Streptomycin (10.000 U/ml)PAAp11-010
Bovine Serum AlbuminSigma-AldrichA2153
Dymethil-Sulfoxide (DMSO)Sigma-AldrichD2650
Trypsin-TPCKSigma-AldrichT1426

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