Lamprey VLRB response to influenza virus supports universal rules of immunogenicity and antigenicity
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, United States
- Emory University School of Medicine, United States
Abstract
Immunoglobulins (Igs) are a crown jewel of jawed vertebrate evolution. Through recombination and mutation of small numbers of genes, Igs can specifically recognize a vast variety of natural and man-made organic molecules. Jawless vertebrates evolved a parallel system of humoral immunity, which recognizes antigens not with Ig, but with a structurally unrelated receptor called the variable lymphocyte receptor B (VLRB). We exploited the convergent evolution of Ig and VLRB antibodies to investigate if intrinsic chemical features of foreign proteins determine their antigenicity and immunogenicity. Surprisingly, we find lamprey VLRB and mouse Ig responses to influenza A virus are extremely similar. Each focuses ~80% of the response on hemagglutinin, mainly through recognition of the major antigenic sites in the hemagglutinin globular head domain. Our findings predict basic conservation of antibody responses to protein antigens, strongly supporting the use of animal models for understanding human antibody responses to viruses and protein immunogens.
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Animal experimentation: This study was performed in strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health.
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This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.
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Lamprey VLRB response to influenza virus supports universal rules of immunogenicity and antigenicity
eLife 4:e07467.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.07467
