Sensitivity of immune response quality to influenza helix 190 antigen structure displayed on a modular virus-like particle.

Highlights: [•] Helix 190 (H190) from influenza virus modularized onto unrelated polyomavirus VLP. [•] Antigen module design affected response quality (level of binding to HA1). [•] Flanking H190 element with GCN4 gave a low-quality response (low HA1 binding). [•] Modularizing multiple tandem repeats of H190 gave a high-quality antibody response. [•] Biomolecular engineering offers a future alternative to whole pathogen vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]