Immunodominance defines the hierarchical immune response to competing antigens in complex immunogens. Little is known regarding B cell and antibody immunodominance despite its importance to immunity to viruses and other pathogens. We show that B cells and serum antibodies from inbred mice demonstrate a reproducible immunodominance hierarchy to the five major antigenic sites in the influenza A virus hemagglutinin globular domain. The hierarchy changes as the immune response progresses and depending on antigen formulation and delivery. Passive antibody transfer and sequential infection experiments demonstrate “original antigenic suppression”, where antibodies suppress memory responses to the priming antigenic site. Our study provides a template for attaining deeper understanding of antibody immunodominance to viruses and other immunogens.
Background: Hypoxia-induced CA IX contributes to pH control in tumor cells, and control of pH is important for cell migration. Results: CA IX increases migration through catalytic domain and interacts with bicarbonate transporters in lamellipodia. Conclusion: CA IX is an active component of the molecular machinery that facilitates migration of tumor cells through pH regulation at the leading edge membranes. Significance: This identifies CA IX as a target to suppress cell migration and reduce tumor aggressiveness.
The potential for future coronavirus outbreaks highlights the need to broadly target this group of pathogens. We use an epitope-agnostic approach to identify six monoclonal antibodies that bind to spike proteins from all seven human-infecting coronaviruses. All six antibodies target the conserved fusion peptide region adjacent to the S2' cleavage site. COV44-62 and COV44-79 broadly neutralize alpha and beta coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants BA.2 and BA.4/5, albeit with lower potency than RBD-specific antibodies. In crystal structures of Fabs COV44-62 and COV44-79 with the SARS-CoV-2 fusion peptide, the fusion peptide epitope adopts a helical structure and includes the arginine at the S2' cleavage site. COV44-79 limited disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 in a Syrian hamster model. These findings highlight the fusion peptide as a candidate epitope for next-generation coronavirus vaccine development.
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