Here’s a structured collection of FAQs tailored for researchers studying HA2 antibodies in influenza, based on academic research scenarios and synthesized from peer-reviewed findings:
Epitope dominance varies:
Use chimeric HA proteins to isolate HA2-specific responses.
Employ cryo-EM to visualize antibody-HA2 interactions.
Natural infection induces broader HA2 antibodies due to:
Repeated exposures enhancing affinity maturation.
Exposure to fusion intermediates revealing cryptic epitopes.
Strategies to bridge this gap:
Knockout validation: Compare wild-type vs. HA2-deficient viral strains in neutralization assays.
Cross-competition assays: Use MAbs (e.g., IIF4) to confirm epitope overlap .
Functional correlation: Link antibody titers to in vivo protection metrics (e.g., lung viral load reduction) .
Antigen design: Use refolded EHA2 (residues 23–185) to preserve conformational epitopes.
Background reduction: Pre-adsorb sera against HA1 or irrelevant proteins .
Longitudinal paired analysis: Compare acute vs. convalescent sera (≥14-day interval) .
Age stratification: Older cohorts (>40 years) show stronger HA2 responses, necessitating adjusted baselines .