Discovery of three novel neutralizing antibody epitopes on the human astrovirus capsid spike and mechanistic insights into virus neutralization.

Abstract

Human astroviruses infect nearly every child in the world, causing diarrhea, vomiting, and fever. Despite the prevalence of human astroviruses, little is known about how antibodies block virus infection. Here, we determined high-resolution structures of the astrovirus capsid protein in complex with three virus-neutralizing antibodies. The antibodies bind distinct sites on the capsid spike domain. We find that the antibodies block virus attachment to human cells and prevent capsid spike interaction with the human neonatal Fc receptor. These findings support the use of the human astrovirus capsid spike as an antigen in a vaccine to prevent astrovirus disease.