Immunity to pre-1950 H1N1 influenza viruses confers cross-protection against the pandemic swine-origin 2009 A (H1N1) influenza virus.

The 2009 H1N1 influenza virus outbreak is the first pandemic of the twenty-first century. Epidemiological data reveal that of all the people afflicted with H1N1 virus, <5% are over 51 y of age. Interestingly, in the uninfected population, 33% of those >60 y old have pre-existing neutralizing Abs against the 2009 H1N1 virus. This finding suggests that influenza strains that circulated 50-60 y ago might provide cross-protection against the swine-origin 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. To test this, we determined the ability of representative H1N1 influenza viruses that circulated in the human population from 1930 to 2000, to induce cross-reactivity to and cross-protection against the pandemic swine-origin H1N1 virus, A/California/04/09. We show that exposure of mice to the 1947 virus, A/FM/1/47, or the 1934 virus, A/PR/8/34, induced robust cross-protective immune responses and these mice were protected against a lethal challenge with mouse-adapted A/California/04/09 H1N1 virus. Conversely, we observed that mice exposed to the 2009 H1N1 virus were protected against a lethal challenge with mouse-adapted 1947 or 1934 H1N1 viruses. In addition, exposure to the 2009 H1N1 virus induced broad cross-reactivity against H1N1 as well as H3N2 influenza viruses. Finally, we show that vaccination with the older H1N1 viruses, particularly A/FM/1/47, confers protective immunity against the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus. Taken together, our data provide an explanation for the decreased susceptibility of the elderly to the 2009 H1N1 outbreak and demonstrate that vaccination with the pre-1950 influenza strains can cross-protect against the pandemic swine-origin 2009 H1N1 influenza virus.

Long-lived antigen-induced IgM plasma cells demonstrate somatic mutations and contribute to long-term protection.

Long-lived plasma cells are critical to humoral immunity as a lifelong source of protective antibodies. Antigen-activated B cells-with T-cell help-undergo affinity maturation within germinal centres and persist as long-lived IgG plasma cells in the bone marrow. Here we show that antigen-specific, induced IgM plasma cells also persist for a lifetime. Unlike long-lived IgG plasma cells, which develop in germinal centres and then home to the bone marrow, IgM plasma cells are primarily retained within the spleen and can develop even in the absence of germinal centres. Interestingly, their expressed IgV loci exhibit somatic mutations introduced by the activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID). However, these IgM plasma cells are probably not antigen-selected, as replacement mutations are spread through the variable segment and not enriched within the CDRs. Finally, antibodies from long-lived IgM plasma cells provide protective host immunity against a lethal virus challenge.

Influenza virus-specific neutralizing IgM antibodies persist for a lifetime.

Detection of immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies has long been used as an important diagnostic tool for identifying active viral infections, but their relevance in later stages has not been clearly defined in vivo. In this study, we followed the kinetics, longevity, and function of influenza virus-specific IgM antibodies for 2 years following sublethal infection of mice with live mouse-adapted A/PR/8/34 virus or immunization with formalin-inactivated virus. These groups mounted robust protective immune responses and survived lethal challenges with 50 × 50% lethal dose (LD50) mouse-adapted A/PR/8/34 virus 600 days after the primary exposure. Surprisingly, the virus-specific IgM antibodies persisted along with IgG antibodies, and we found a significantly higher number of IgM-positive (IgM(+)) virus-specific plasma cells than IgG(+) plasma cells that persisted for at least 9 months postexposure. The IgM antibodies were functional as they neutralized influenza virus in the presence of complement just as well as IgG antibodies did.