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Barriers to antigenic escape by pathogens: trade-off between reproductive rate and antigenic mutability

Steven A Frank1, Robin M Bush

  • 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-2525, USA. safrank@uci.edu

BMC Evolutionary Biology
|November 17, 2007
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

Measles vaccines offer lifelong immunity, unlike influenza vaccines that require frequent updates. This study proposes that a virus's tendency to infect children versus spreading across all age groups influences its evolution, impacting antigenic stability.

Area of Science:

  • Virology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Measles vaccination provides lifelong immunity with no observed antigenic variants.
  • Influenza viruses continuously evolve, necessitating frequent vaccine updates due to new antigenic variants.
  • High mutation rates in both measles and influenza RNA viruses do not solely explain differences in antigenic variability.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose a novel hypothesis explaining the contrasting antigenic stasis of measles and antigenic change in influenza.
  • To investigate the role of host population structure and age-specific transmission dynamics in viral evolution.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative analysis of viral characteristics and host-pathogen interactions.
  • Hypothesizing selective pressures based on age-class bias in transmission.
  • Evaluating the influence of reproductive rate versus antigenic mutability on viral evolution.

Main Results:

  • Viruses with high reproductive rates concentrating infection in children exhibit antigenic stasis.
  • Viruses spreading widely across age classes, like influenza, show greater antigenic variability.
  • Natural selection favors increased reproductive rate in viruses primarily infecting younger populations.
  • Natural selection favors antigenic mutability in viruses that spread more readily among older individuals.

Conclusions:

  • Divergent selective pressures related to age-class bias and transmission dynamics influence viral evolution.
  • These pressures can explain observed differences in reproductive rates and antigenic variation among pathogens.
  • The study offers a framework for understanding why some viruses remain antigenically stable while others rapidly evolve.

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