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Updated: Jul 30, 2026

Quantitative Analyses of all Influenza Type A Viral Hemagglutinins and Neuraminidases using Universal Antibodies in Simple Slot Blot Assays
Published on: April 4, 2011
Production and compositional analysis of full-length influenza virus hemagglutinin in Nanodiscs: Insights from
Tim G J Knetsch1, Marcellus Ubbink1
1Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, 2333 CC, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Abstract:
The global threat of pandemics highlights the urgency of developing innovative vaccine strategies. Viral spike proteins are the primary antigens recognized by the immune system and serve as key targets for vaccine development. This study reports the production of full-length Influenza A virus surface glycoprotein, hemagglutinin (HA), and its incorporation into Nanodiscs (NDs). HA was expressed in insect cells and purified using detergents, maintaining its functional integrity. Characterisation by size-exclusion chromatography coupled with multi-angle light scattering (SEC-MALS) confirmed that HA could be incorporated into 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) NDs as a single trimer. SEC-MALS was instrumental in analysing the composition of NDs, which included HA, membrane scaffold proteins, lipids, and glycans. These findings provide a robust framework for the production and reconstitution of glycoproteins in NDs, and offers valuable insights into the study of multi-component nanoparticles using MALS. Our work highlights the potential of NDs for studying viral glycoproteins and advances the development of well-defined recombinant ND-based vaccines.

