Analysis of Hemagglutinin-Mediated Entry Tropism of H5N1 Avian Influenza

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2009

Abstract

Avian influenza virus H5N1 is a major concern as a potential global pandemic. It is thought that multiple key events must take place before efficient human-to-human transmission of the virus occurs. The first step in overcoming host restriction is viral entry which is mediated by HA, responsible for both viral attachment and viral/host membrane fusion. HA binds to glycans-containing receptors with terminal sialic acid (SA). It has been shown that avian influenza viruses preferentially bind to α2,3-linked SAs, while human influenza A viruses exhibit a preference for α2,6-linked SAs. Thus it is believed the precise linkage of SAs on the target cells dictate host tropism of the viruses.

Version

The work available here is the publisher version.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-422X-6-39

Publication Title

Virology Journal

Volume Number

6

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