Researchers elucidate immune response to flu vaccine

A collaboration among researchers at the Yale School of Medicine and 10 other research institutions has discovered gene signatures — or related sets of genes — associated with the immune response to the influenza vaccination. The researchers found nine genes and three gene clusters by studying antibody response in over 500 people. Findings from the study could be used to develop strategies to predict and improve the immune system’s response to vaccines. The research was published in the journal Science Immunology in August. Antibodies induced by vaccination are an important mechanism of protection against infection. Despite the overall public health success of influenza vaccination, many individuals fail to induce a substantial antibody response. The study aimed to identify the immune response mechanisms underlying differences in influenza vaccination responses. Previous research in identifying these gene signatures was unsuccessful, in part due to the relatively small sizes of the cohorts, according to Steven Kleinstein, a...