Broadly neutralizing antibodies for therapy of viral infections

Abstract

Neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) are an essential part of the human immune response that involves an intricate relationship between the innate and adaptive immune system to pre- vent infection. The appearance of NAbs is a hallmark of viral infection in patients with HIV, dengue, hepatitis C virus, Ebola, and influenza. These viruses are characterized by high genetic diversity of viral epitopes arising due to a high replication rate and an error-prone replication machinery. In general, almost all infected individuals develop strain-specific NAbs in a fairly short period of time. In contrast, broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) show subdominant responses and are found only in a subset of patients, typically after a lengthy period of infection. Epitopes targeted by specific NAbs and bNAbs evolved thereafter provide useful information for vaccine design. In this review, we discuss the isolation and utility of bNAbs against HIV-1, dengue, hepatitis C virus, influenza, and Ebola. Passive antibody therapy and the economics of NAb therapy are also discussed.