H3N2 influenza A virus gradually adapts to human-type receptor binding and entry specificity after the start of the 1968 pandemic.

ABSTRACT: To become established upon zoonotic transfer, influenza A viruses (IAV) need to switch binding from "avian-type" α2-3-linked sialic acid receptors (2-3Sia) to "human-type" Siaα2-6-linked sialic acid receptors (2-6Sia). For the 1968 H3N2 pandemic virus, this was accomplished by two canonical amino acid substitutions in its hemagglutinin (HA) although a full specificity shift had not occurred. The receptor repertoire on epithelial cells is highly diverse and simultaneous interaction of a virus particle with a range of low- to very low-affinity receptors results in tight heteromultivalent binding. How this range of affinities determines binding selectivity and virus motility remains largely unknown as the analysis of low-affinity monovalent HA-receptor interactions is technically challenging.

SUBMITTER: Liu M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10401031 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature