A Prevalent Focused Human Antibody Response to the Influenza Virus Hemagglutinin Head Interface.

ABSTRACT: Novel animal influenza viruses emerge, initiate pandemics, and become endemic seasonal variants that have evolved to escape from prevalent herd immunity. These processes often outpace vaccine-elicited protection. Focusing immune responses on conserved epitopes may impart durable immunity. We describe a focused, protective antibody response, abundant in memory and serum repertoires, to a conserved region at the influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) head interface. Structures of 11 examples, 8 reported here, from seven human donors demonstrate the convergence of responses on a single epitope. The 11 are genetically diverse, with one class having a common, IGκV1-39, light chain. All of the antibodies bind HAs from multiple serotypes. The lack of apparent genetic restriction and potential for eli

SUBMITTER: McCarthy KR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8262862 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature