title: Universal antibodies and their applications to the quantitative determination of virtually all subtypes of the influenza A viral hemagglutinins.
abstract: The fusion peptide is the only universally conserved sequence in the hemagglutinins of all 16 subtypes of influenza A and two genetic lineages of influenza B viruses. Here, peptides selected by bioinformatics approach were modified and conjugated to overcome serious technical hurdles such as the high hydrophobicity and weak immunogenicity of the viral fusion peptides. Antibodies generated against fusion peptides demonstrated remarkable specificity against the viral sequences and robustness of quantitatively analyzing the viral hemagglutinins even under stringent conditions. As quantitatively revealed by antibody-binding experiments, the fusion peptides of diverse hemagglutinins are exposed to the same degree upon unfolding at neutral pH to the physiologically fusogenic state. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the quantitative determination of virtually all influenza vaccines using a single universal antibody.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biologics Research, Biologics and Genetic Therapies Directorate, HPFB, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Stella
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chun
authors.forename: Changgui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Van Domselaar
authors.forename: Junzhi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farnsworth
authors.forename: Xiaoyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Harold
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rode
authors.forename: Terry D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Cyr
authors.forename: Runtao
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Xuguang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000906:Antibodies; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D015153:Blotting, Western; D019295:Computational Biology; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D006389:Hemagglutinins, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D009981:Influenza B virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000276:immunology; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011489:Protein Denaturation; D012995:Solubility; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000939:Epitopes; D006389:Hemagglutinins, Viral; D007252:Influenza Vaccines; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins