Influenza Pseudovirus Reagents for Neutralization Assays and More

Influenza A & B Pseudotyped Viral Particles

Influenza Reporter Virus Particles (RVPs) are ready-to-use pseudoviruses that substitute for live influenza virus in infectivity and neutralization assays. These non-replicative, pseudotyped virus-like particles are ideal for vaccine developers and other influenza researchers—and RVPs for even the most pathogenic strains like H5N1 are safe for your BSL-2 lab.

RVPs display strain-specific hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) proteins on a heterologous viral core. Their modified genome expresses a convenient GFP or luciferase reporter gene that produces a quantitative readout of infectivity that’s easy to detect on standard instruments.

Unlike live influenza virus, Influenza RVPs are produced by direct expression of viral proteins encoded by cDNA. This means the product is the same every time, and we can easily modify the HA sequence to suit your research needs.

With this reliable, off-the-shelf reagent, your lab team will spend less time sourcing up-to-date influenza stocks, propagating virus, and training personnel—leaving more time for generating valuable data in response to the latest influenza strains.
Schematic of an influenza pseudovirus particle. HA and NA proteins in a lipid bilayer surround a lentivirus core with a GFP or luciferase reporter gene inside.

Common Applications

✔Antibody neutralization testing
✔Serum screening and potency assays
✔High-throughput screening campaigns

Advantages over live virus

✔All strains are BSL-2 safe 
✔Quantitative readout without staining 
✔Point mutations or novel strains in weeks

Influenza Pseudovirus Product Offerings

For your pandemic and seasonal influenza research, we offer RVPs with surface proteins from a broad range of influenza A and influenza B strains. Our influenza pseudovirus catalog includes the following subtypes and lineages.
Virus Subtype or lineage
Influenza A H1N1
Influenza A H3N2
Influenza A H5N1
Influenza A H5N8
Influenza A H7N9
Influenza B Yamagata
Influenza B Victoria

 

View Strain Details & Order Now
Get fast access to emerging strains. We regularly add new seasonal and pandemic strains to our influenza reagent catalog. We release WHO-recommended seasonal influenza strains as soon as 5 weeks after they are announced—helping you stay ahead of circulating variants.

Need a custom strain or mutation? Through our custom pseudovirus service we can create influenza virus particles tailored to your specific needs.


Related product: Influenza TiterSafe™ Particles  are a ready-to-use reagent that readily substitutes for live influenza virus in your existing hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) assay. It’s a time-saving, safer alternative for vaccine developers running traditonal potency assays.

Consistent & Easy Influenza Neutralization Assays

Reporter Virus Particles (RVPs) provide highly reproducible and specific neutralization data to support your research.

Our ISO 9001-certified quality management system means you can count on reliable reagents that perform as expected in your lab. As shown below (left panel), influenza RVP infectivity data is highly consistent across production lots. Our careful attention to critical quality attributes means you can focus on your research, not reagent troubleshooting.

With Influenza RVPs, you can verify your antibody’s specificity and assess its ability to block infection. The neutralization data below (right panel) shows that our influenza pseudoviruses faithfully present influenza surface proteins and generate clean dose-response curves for calculating NT50, IC50, or other metrics..

Ready to establish your own assay? Our guide walks you through the process: Pseudovirus Neutralization Assays: A how-to guide for getting started.
A pseudovirus infectivity curve plots microliters of RVP input on the X-axis and % infected cells on the Y. Results show consistent curves across 6 lots, with infection reaching 75% at inputs of 5 microliters and up. A neutralization curve plots log of MAb concentration on the X axis against % normalized infection on the Y. Results show specific neutralization of H5N1 RVPs by an H5N1 neutralizing MAb but not a negative control MAb.

(Left) Infectivity assays comparing lots of Influenza A/Darwin/9/2021 RVPs were performed in 384-well plates. MDCK-SIAT1 cells were infected for 1 hour, then incubated for 72 hours prior to readout by GFP fluorescence. (Right) Infection of HEK-293T cells with Influenza A/Indonesia/5/2005 RVPs was inhibited by a neutralizing monoclonal antibody (Sino #68031-H011). A non-neutralizing control antibody did not inhibit infection.

Influenza Pseudovirus Neutralization Assay Workflow

Whether you're running a single microneutralization assay or conducting high-throughput screening, influenza RVPs adapt to your workflow.

Protocol overview
  • Prepare target cells (MDCK-SIAT1, HEK-293T, or your preferred line)
  • Pre-incubate RVPs with test antibody or serum
  • Infect cells with neutralization mixture (typically 1 hour)
  • Incubate to allow reporter expression (48-72 hours)
  • Read signal by flow cytometry or high-content imagery (GFP), or luminometer (luminescence)
  • Calculate metrics (NT50,IC50, neutralization titer)

    • Assay formats we support
  • 96-well and 384-well plate formats
  • GFP or luciferase reporter readouts
  • Serum panels or antibody libraries

    • Do you have an alternative assay format or need a different readout? Please contact us for more information.

    Featured Webinar: Innovative Research Tools to Combat Biological Threats

    Leaders in industry and academia discussed technologies, experiences, and strategies within the study and development of therapeutics against emerging viruses, including influenza.
    At 27:15, James E. Crowe, Jr., M.D., discusses his work on influenza, including the use of pseudovirus RVPs in place of live virus for neutralization assays.

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