Jumpei Ito, etc.,al. [preprint]Integrative modeling of seasonal influenza evolution via AI-powered antigenic cartography. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.08.04.668423
Seasonal influenza viruses evade host immunity through rapid antigenic evolution. Antigenicity is assessed by serological assays and typically visualized as antigenic maps, which represent antigenic differences among virus strains. However, conventional maps cannot directly infer the antigenicity of unexamined variants from their genotypes. Here, we present PLANT, a protein language model that projects influenza A/H3N2 viruses onto an antigenic map using HA protein sequences. Using PLANT-based cartography, we show that (i) H3N2 antigenic evolution accelerates during periods of disrupted global circulation, (ii) antigenic novelty accounts for a substantial portion of viral fitness advantage, and (iii) vaccine strains are often antigenically distant from circulating viruses. We further propose a PLANT-based framework for selecting vaccine strains with improved antigenic match than the WHO-recommended strains. This study provides a statistical foundation for integrated modeling of viral genotype, antigenicity, and fitness, offering quantitative insights into influenza virus evolution and supporting rational vaccine design.
See Also:
Latest articles in those days:
- High-throughput pseudovirus neutralisation maps the antigenic landscape of influenza A/H1N1 viruses 7 hours ago
- Timely vaccine strain selection and genomic surveillance improve evolutionary forecast accuracy of seasonal influenza A/H3N2 7 hours ago
- Evaluation of a Novel Data Source for National Influenza Surveillance: Influenza Hospitalization Data in the National Healthcare Safety Network, United States, September 2021-April 2024 7 hours ago
- Scenarios for pre-pandemic zoonotic influenza preparedness and response 7 hours ago
- Stability of Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus in Milk from Infected Cows and Virus-Spiked Milk 1 days ago
[Go Top] [Close Window]


