Generation of a protective murine monoclonal antibody against the stem of influenza hemagglutinins from group 1 viruses and identification of resistance mutations against it.

• Main Authors: Wei Wang, Russell Vassell, Hyo Sook Song, Qiong Chen, Paul W Keller, Swati Verma, Esmeralda Alvarado-Facundo, Hongquan Wan, Falko Schmeisser, Clement A Meseda, Jerry P Weir, Carol D Weiss
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2019-01-01
• Series: PLoS ONE
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222436

Vaccines that elicit broadly cross-neutralizing antibodies, including antibodies that target the conserved stem of hemagglutinin (HA), are being developed as a strategy for next-generation influenza vaccines that protect against influenza across multiple years. However, efficient induction of cross-neutralizing antibodies remains a challenge, and potential escape mutations have not been well characterized. Here we elicited cross-neutralizing antibodies by immunizing animals with the hemagglutinins from H5 and H9 subtype influenza A viruses that are sensitive to neutralization by stem antibodies. We further isolated and characterized an HA stem monoclonal antibody 4C2 that broadly neutralizes group 1 influenza viruses and identified HA mutations that reduced sensitivity to stem antibodies. Our results offer insights for next-generation influenza vaccine strategies for inducing cross-neutralizing antibodies.