Antibodies to antigenic site A of influenza H7 hemagglutinin provide protection against H7N9 challenge

Falko Schmeisser; Anupama Vasudevan; Swati Verma; Wei Wang; Esmeralda Alvarado; Carol Weiss; Vajini Atukorale; Clement Meseda; Jerry P Weir

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0117108

Antibodies to antigenic site A of influenza H7 hemagglutinin provide protection against H7N9 challenge

PLoS One. 2015 Jan 28;10(1):e0117108. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0117108. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Falko Schmeisser¹, Anupama Vasudevan¹, Swati Verma¹, Wei Wang¹, Esmeralda Alvarado¹, Carol Weiss¹, Vajini Atukorale¹, Clement Meseda¹, Jerry P Weir¹

Affiliation

¹ Division of Viral Products, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20993, United States of America.

Abstract

Identifying major antigenic and protective epitopes of the H7 hemagglutinin (HA) will be important for understanding the antibody response to vaccines developed against the novel influenza H7N9 viruses that emerged in China in 2013. To facilitate antigenic characterization of the H7N9 HA and to develop reagents for evaluation of H7N9 candidate vaccines, we generated a panel of murine monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to the HA of A/Shanghai/2/2013 using mammalian cell-derived virus-like particles (VLP) containing the H7 HA. Neutralizing antibodies identified an HA epitope corresponding to antigenic site A on the structurally similar influenza H3 hemagglutinin. Importantly, the neutralizing antibodies protect against A/Shanghai/2/2013 challenge. This antigenic site is conserved among many H7 viruses, including strains of both Eurasian and North American lineage, and the isolated neutralizing antibodies are cross-reactive with older H7 vaccine strains. The results indicate that the identified antigenic site is a potentially important protective epitope and suggest the potential benefit of cross-reactive antibody responses to vaccination with H7 candidate vaccines.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Antibodies, Neutralizing / immunology*
Antibodies, Viral / immunology
Epitopes / immunology
Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus / immunology*
Humans
Influenza A Virus, H7N9 Subtype / immunology*
Influenza Vaccines / immunology*
Influenza, Human / prevention & control*
Influenza, Human / virology

Substances

Antibodies, Neutralizing
Antibodies, Viral
Epitopes
Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus
Influenza Vaccines
hemagglutinin, avian influenza A virus

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, Department of Health and Human Services. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.