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Every winter, the influenza virus causes serious respiratory infections, particularly in the young and elderly. Vaccines are available, however it is necessary to receive them annually due to the fact that influenza is able to evade immune surveillance through rapid genetic drift and shift.
An annual influenza virus type for vaccine production is prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO). In spite of this, unexpected pandemic influenza viruses may occur, such as the swine H1N1 virus, which appeared in 2009, leaving people exposed to new virus without
protection until a specific vaccine is available, approximately 6 months. Here, we established a rapid antibody screening process to develop universal neutralizing antibodies against hetero-subtypic influenza viruses. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of swine H1N1
convalescent patients were used to identify anti-hemagglutinin antibodies using phage display method and immunospot array assay on a chip (ISAAC). Results showed that several of the candidate antibodies revealed a broad neutralizing effect in hetero subtype influenza viruses.
Moreover, this effect was seen not only in H1N1, but also in H2N2 and H5N1. In addition, prophylactic and therapeutic effects against H5N1 (A/VietNam/03/04) and a prophylactic effect against H1N1 (A/California/04/09) was observed in mice. In conclusion, we have developed universal neutralizing monoclonal antibodies against various subtypes of influenza viruses to use as an anti-influenza agent for prophylaxis or therapeutic treatment.