Enumeration of antigenic sites of influenza virus hemagglutinin

Abstract

The antigenic sites on the hemagglutinin of X-31 (H3) influenza virus have been defined by using a competitive radioimmunoassay with a panel of monoclonal antibodies which includes those known to select variants with substitutions of particular amino acids. The capacity of each monoclonal antibody to block the binding of other radioiodinated monoclones to purified hemagglutinin permitted classification of the panel into four separate groups, each of which defined a particular antigenic site on the hemagglutinin molecule. Three of these are located on the polypeptide backbone and correspond to the 'hinge', the 'loop', and the 'tip/interface' of the X-ray crystallographic model of Wiley et al...