Different mechanisms of the protection against influenza A infection mediated by broadly reactive HA2-specific antibodies.

Different mechanisms of the protection against influenza A infection mediated by broadly reactive HA2-specific antibodies. Acta Virol. 2019;63(4):347-365 Authors: Tomčíková K, Varečková E Abstract Influenza A viruses (IAVs) cause yearly repeating infections in humans. The current vaccination approach is based on the production of virus-neutralizing antibodies. Virus-neutralizing antibodies, however, are closely strain-specific due to the IAV variability. Therefore, antibodies produced during the previous influenza season do not provide sufficient protection against new infection, and, hence, annual revaccination is needed. The utilization of the influenza conserved stem domain of hemagglutinin (HA), the HA2 gp, led to a new vaccine design based on cross-reactive cellular and especially humoral immune responses represented by HA2-specific antibodies. The HA2-specific antibodies exhibit cross-reactivity with HA2 gp within one subtype or even among subtypes and play a role in protective immunity against influenza infection. There are several elimination mechanisms of viral replication mediated by HA2-specific antibodies. After recognition of the epitope, they prevent the conformational rearrangement of HA or the insertion of the fusion protein into the endosomal membrane and, consequently, the fusion pore formation. In this case, no release of viral genetic information into the target cell is enabled and virus cannot replicate. Th...
Source: Acta Virologica - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Tags: Acta Virol Source Type: research