An epitope shared by the hemagglutinins of H1, H2, H5, and H6 subtypes of influenza A virus

The membrane-inserted hemagglutinin (HA) is the most variable protein of influenza viruses. Here we describe the characterization of a shared epitope in the HA of influenza A virus H1, H2, and H5 subtypes which were completely neutralized by a monoclonal antibody (MAb), directed against this epitope. This MAb (C179) also efficiently precipitated the HAs of these viruses. In addition, MAb C179 did not neutralize H6 subtype strains despite complete amino acid homology of the epitope regions. Furthermore, only the non-glycosylated form of the HA of one of the H6 subtype strains could be precipitated by the MAb. The conformational epitope may be masked by glycosylation, although it could not be excluded that differences in the primary amino acid sequence may cause the decreased accessibility of the epitope in H6 subtype strains.