Germline-encoded amino acid-binding motifs drive immunodominant public antibody responses

摘要

CONCLUSION: Recurrent antibody responses to immunodominant public epitopes are a general feature of humoral immunity. We propose that they are driven by GRAB motifs, a germline-encoded component of the architecture of the antibody repertoire that predisposes antibodies to recognize particular structures and thus influences epitope selection and composition. Public epitopes likely arise in part because they are best aligned for recognition by GRAB motifs and can thus be bound by a relatively large precursor pool of B cells. GRAB motifs may have evolved to ensure efficient antibody responses to pathogens; the recurrent responses they engender across populations likely exert selective pressure on pathogens and influence host-pathogen coevolution.