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Researchers have discovered antibodies that can defeat all varieties of influenza type A
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
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Researchers at the National Institute for Medical Research in London have discovered a previously unknown type of antibody that can neutralise all types of influenza A viruses (including bird and swine).
As the researchers write in their article in the journal Science, antibodies were found in the blood of a patient with swine flu. And today they require further study and clinical trials, which will allow the development of a drug for the treatment and prevention of this type of flu.
The FI6 antibody was discovered by biologists led by John Skechel, a microorganism that neutralizes all varieties of the influenza A virus equally effectively. This antibody binds to a special site in hemagglutinin, a key protein in the virus's envelope that it uses to attach to and infect cells. The critical importance of this site in the process of attachment to a cell ensures the high level of preservation of this protein chain between virus strains.
Every year, flu epidemics take the lives of many thousands of patients. The fight against flu is complicated by the fact that there are three varieties of this virus - A, B and C, which makes it quite difficult to predict which type of virus will be most widespread next year. In addition, vaccination allows you to develop immunity to only one or several strains of the flu virus.
The most dangerous influenza viruses are those belonging to type A. Varieties of this virus are divided into groups A1 and A2.
When the flu virus enters the human body, the immune system begins to produce many different antibodies, trying to find the key to neutralizing hemagglutinin. Once such a key has been found, immune cells stop producing other types of antibodies and switch to releasing the desired antibody.
John Skechel and his colleagues used the same mechanism. The biologists grew populations of immune cells obtained from the blood of flu patients. Each cell culture synthesized only one type of antibody. The scientists had to sort through 104,000 samples before they found the FI6 antibody.
The blood sample from which these antibodies and the cells that synthesize them were isolated was obtained in 2009 from one of the patients with swine flu H1N1. As scientists write, this compound is capable of binding to and neutralizing all 16 basic varieties of hemagglutinin, which is present in the membranes of all strains of influenza type A.
FI6 binds to a key site in the protein and prevents it from binding to sites on the cell membrane. The researchers developed a more effective and safer antibody, FI6-v3, based on it, and tested its effectiveness on several populations of mice and ferrets infected with swine and bird flu.
The experiment showed that the pre-administered antibodies completely neutralized the flu virus, and the injection of FI6-v3 after several days of illness significantly alleviated its course and allowed the rodents and ferrets to survive. "The results of prevention and therapy with FI6 allow us to recognize that this antibody is the first example of a means that can be used to neutralize all influenza A viruses," the scientists conclude.
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