Broadly neutralizing antiviral antibodies

• Published in: Annual review of immunology Vol. 31; p. 705
• Main Authors: Corti, Davide, Lanzavecchia, Antonio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.01.2013
• Subjects: Animals; Antibodies, Viral - physiology; Antibodies, Viral - therapeutic use; HIV Antibodies - therapeutic use; HIV Infections - immunology; HIV Infections - prevention & control; HIV Infections - virology; Humans; Immunization, Passive - methods; Influenza, Human - immunology; Influenza, Human - prevention & control; Influenza, Human - virology; Molecular Targeted Therapy - methods; Neutralization Tests - methods
• ISSN: 1545-3278
• DOI: 10.1146/annurev-immunol-032712-095916

A fascinating aspect of viral evolution relates to the ability of viruses to escape the adaptive immune response. The widely held view has been that the great variability of viral glycoproteins would be an absolute obstacle to the development of antibody-based therapies or vaccines that could confer broad and long-lasting protection. In the past five years, new approaches have been developed to interrogate human memory B cells and plasma cells with high efficiency and to isolate several broadly neutralizing antiviral antibodies against highly variable pathogens such as HIV-1 and influenza virus. These antibodies not only provide new tools for prophylaxis and therapy for viral diseases but also identify conserved epitopes that may be used to design new vaccines capable of conferring broader protection.