Redundancy and plasticity of neutralizing antibody responses are cornerstone attributes of the human immune response to the smallpox vaccine.

ABSTRACT: The smallpox vaccine is widely considered the gold standard for human vaccines, yet the key antibody targets in humans remain unclear. We endeavored to identify a stereotypic, dominant, mature virion (MV) neutralizing antibody target in humans which could be used as a diagnostic serological marker of protective humoral immunity induced by the smallpox vaccine (vaccinia virus [VACV]). We have instead found that diversity is a defining characteristic of the human antibody response to the smallpox vaccine. We show that H3 is the most immunodominant VACV neutralizing antibody target, as determined by correlation analysis of immunoglobulin G (IgG) specificities to MV neutralizing antibody titers. It was determined that purified human anti-H3 IgG is sufficient for neutralization of VACV; however

SUBMITTER: Benhnia MR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2268460 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature