Monoclonal anti-hemagglutinin antibodies detect irreversible antigenic alterations that coincide with the acid activation of influenza virus A/PR/834-mediated hemolysis.

Exposure of influenza virus to an acidic environment, which is known to be required for viral fusion and hemolysis, has recently been shown to induce a conformational change in the hemagglutinin molecule. In the present study, we examined the effects of acid incubation on the antigenicity, biological activity, and morphology of influenza virus A/PR/8/34 (H1N1). Incubation of PR8 virus at pH 5 in the absence of erythrocytes resulted in a rapid and irreversible loss of viral hemolytic activity and infectivity. Apart from a less distinct appearance of the viral surface projections and slight damage to the envelope structure, acid incubation did not result in gross morphological changes in the viral architecture. The acid-induced change could be detected in the form of greatly increased or decreased binding of many monoclonal antibodies directed to each of the four major antigenic regions of the hemagglutinin. Triggering of viral hemolytic activity and antigenic alterations was similarly pH dependent. In addition, the different pH dependencies of egg-grown and trypsin-treated MDCK-grown viruses coincided with an analogous pH dependence of the antigenic alterations that were observed with these viruses. These observations are compatible with the idea that some of the anti-hemagglutinin antibodies detect conformational changes in the hemagglutinin which are required for the initiation of fusion and hemolysis.