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.

Systemic IL-15, IFN-g, and IP-10/CXCL10 signature associated with effective immune response to SARS-CoV-2 in BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine recipients Graphical abstract Highlights d BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine induces a cytokine signature featuring IL-15, IFN-g, and CXCL10 d mRNA-vaccine-induced IFN-g and IL-15 correlate with spike antibody response d Strong cytokine signature upon a single vaccination of convalescent persons d Stronger cytokine induction upon booster vaccination in naive persons