Human parainfluenza virus (hPIV) is an RNA-based paramyxovirus that causes respiratory infections in children and adults. There are four serotypes that can result in a myriad of diseases of the respiratory tract including croup, bronchitis, and pneumonia (Mao et al., 2012). hPIV is a leading cause of respiratory tract infection and hospitalization among children under 5, only surpassed by the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Currently, there are limited treatment options and no approved vaccines. Recently, studies showed that a large proportion of neutralizing antibodies preferentially recognize exposed epitopes in the prefusion conformation of the RSV F protein, which together with other evidence suggests that creation of stabilized prefusion F protein immunogens might be a universal strategy to develop vaccine candidates for inducing protective immune responses in RSV and other related viruses, such as hPIV.

Researchers at the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases created immunogenic PIV fusion (F) glycoproteins for types 1,2,3 and 4 (hPIV1, hPIV2, hPIV3 and hPIV4) that have been modified to stabilize the prefusion conformation.

These stabilized prefusion F immunogens, especially hPIV3, induced high titer neutralizing responses in mice and rhesus macaques, and should thus serve as promising candidates for the prevention of PIV infection in humans.

This technology is available for licensing for commercial development in accordance with 35 U.S.C. § 209 and 37 CFR Part 404.