Isolation and characterization of a human monoclonal antibody against M2 of influenza A virus for reduction of avian influenza

In this study, we applied ISAAC method to detect influenza virus-specific B-cells in peripheral blood from healthy volunteers who had been immunized with influenza HA vaccine to generate human influenza monoclonal antibodies. We obtained many human monoclonal antibodies reacting influenza viruses, and characterized their functions. One of them (Ab1-10) specifically bound external domain of the matrix protein 2 (M2e). We demonstrate that Ab1-10 reacted not only to seasonal influenza A viruses, but also to pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus (2009 H1N1) and highly pathogenic avian influenza A virus. More importantly, it inhibited 2009 H1N1 viral replication in vitro, suggesting that it could be a potent candidate for medical application.