Some Exposure for Influenza Hemagglutinin Interface Antibodies

Influenza viruses are a constant threat to human health. Current vaccines often confer low to moderate protection against infection with seasonal viruses and little-to-no protection against pandemic viruses. Improved vaccines are needed. These vaccines will need to reliably elicit antibodies to conserved sites that are broadly protective. One strategy to do so is to design immunogens that present epitopes that are targeted by antibodies that are genetically similar, that humans have the genetic capacity to produce, and that are likely present in human naive B cell repertoires. Among the more recently described epitopes for broadly binding, protective antibodies are those on surfaces at protein-protein interfaces. This review will focus on describing many of these sites and the genetic features of antibodies that engage them. Interface epitopes are immunogenic, and antibodies to these sites are likely present in human repertoires following influenza infection or vaccination.