# Profiling Human Papillomavirus Lineage-Specific Capsid Antigenicity With Geographically Diverse Natural Infection Antibodies

## TL;DR

This study explores how different human papillomavirus lineages affect the immune response by analyzing antibody interactions with viral proteins.

## Contribution

The paper introduces relational antigenic maps to show how lineage variation influences antibody binding and neutralization.

## Key findings

- Lineage-specific antibodies show distinct binding patterns to L1L2 capsid antigens.
- Antigenic maps reveal that a few amino acid residues on the capsid surface are critical for antibody interactions.
- Natural infection elicits a lineage-specific humoral immune response to oncogenic human papillomaviruses.

## Abstract

Human papillomavirus variants are classified into lineages based on their whole genome sequence, but the impact of lineage variation on the structure or function of encoded proteins is unclear. We used a global panel of lineage-specific natural infection sera to assess antibody-binding specificity for lineage-specific L1L2 antigens, and we used these data to create relational antigenic maps. Merging these data with neutralizing antibody data demonstrated similar spatial geometry and revealed dependency on a limited number of amino residues on the capsid surface. These data inform the degree of lineage specificity within the natural infection humoral immune response to oncogenic human papillomaviruses.

Human papillomavirus lineages display differential phylogeographic distribution, but little is known about the impact of variation on the structure and function of encoded proteins. Relational antigenic maps informed the lineage-specific antigenicity of oncogenic capsid proteins and the antibody repertoire elicited during natural infection.