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Flu 'super-antibody'

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 11, page 574 (2011)Cite this article

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A universal influenza vaccine has been something of a holy grail for vaccinologists, but the recent isolation of a neutralizing antibody that recognizes a conserved portion of the haemagglutinin glycoprotein of all 16 subtypes and neutralizes both group 1 and group 2 influenza A viruses ( Science , 28 Jul 2011) has taken us a step closer to this possibility.

The study, led by Antonio Lanzavecchia, director of the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Bellinzona, Switzerland, and John Skehel, at the National Institute for Medical Research in London, UK, isolated and screened 104,000 B cells from 8 individuals exposed to different strains of influenza virus before identifying the 'super-antibody' — termed F16. “We've tried every subtype of influenza A and it [F16] interacts with them all”, explained Skehel ( BBC News , 29 Jul 2011).

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  1. Olive Leavy
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Leavy, O. Flu 'super-antibody'. Nat Rev Immunol 11, 574 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nri3054

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