[Study of influenza virus hemagglutinin H3 avidity using monoclonal antibodies]. / Izuchenie avidnosti gemaggliutinina H3 virusa grippa s pomoshch'iu monoklonal'nykh antitel.

The results of a comparative study of the features of antigenic determinants of avid and non-avid variants of influenza virus hemagglutinin H3 and of the influence of the mode of antigen presentation on the degree of its avidity are presented. The avidity of influenza virus hemagglutinin was shown to be determined by the capacity of individual antigenic determinants to interaction with antibodies. The antigenic determinants of avid hemagglutinin possessing a high functional activity in interaction with antibodies may have the spatial configuration which does not change in different modes of the antigen presentation. Isolation of hemagglutinin from virions of non-avid virus variants may lead to increased functional activity of individual antigenic determinants (and the antigen molecule as a whole) probably due to an increased degree of exposure and/or complementarity of the determinants for active centres of antibody.

[Detection of antibodies using recombinant strains of influenza viruses in the sera of various species of birds circulating in the territories of the Ukrainian and Azerbaijan SSRs]. / Vyiavlenie antitel s pomoshch'iu rekombinantnykh shtammov virusov grippa v syvorotakh razlichnykh vidov ptits, tsirkuliruiushchikh na territorii Ukrainskoi i Azerbaidzhanskoi SSR.

Examinations of blood sera from different species of birds trapped in the Ukrainian and Azerbaijan SSRs using diagnostic preparations from the influenza A/sea gull/Maryland/704/77 virus strain and a recombinant R117 derived from it revealed the presence of antibodies to hemagglutinin H13. The diagnostic preparation produced from the recombinant strain was found to be more active in the detection of antibodies in avian sera.

Preparation of influenza B virus recombinant strains.

The study of antigenic and biologic properties of influenza B epidemic viruses isolated in 1979 and 1983 and laboratory strain B/Lee/40 has revealed some differences in their biologic properties. The most marked changes have been found in the haemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) indicating that influenza B viruses underwent dramatic antigenic drifts during the period in question. The strains obtained by genetic recombination have inherited surface antigens of epidemic influenza B/Singapore/222/79 and B/USSR/100/83 viruses and preserved the HA thermolability inherent to these viruses. They have, however, acquired the marker of reproduction in chick embryos and the immunogenicity from the donor strain B/Lee/40. These recombinants can be, therefore, recommended as vaccine strain candidates.