Masking of antigenic epitopes by antibodies shapes the humoral immune response to influenza.

ABSTRACT: The immune responses to influenza, a virus that exhibits strain variation, show complex dynamics where prior immunity shapes the response to the subsequent infecting strains. Original antigenic sin (OAS) describes the observation that antibodies to the first encountered influenza strain, specifically antibodies to the epitopes on the head of influenza's main surface glycoprotein, haemagglutinin (HA), dominate following infection with new drifted strains. OAS suggests that responses to the original strain are preferentially boosted. Recent studies also show limited boosting of the antibodies to conserved epitopes on the stem of HA, which are attractive targets for a 'universal vaccine'. We develop multi-epitope models to explore how pre-existing immunity modulates the immune response to new

SUBMITTER: Zarnitsyna VI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4528424 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature