Structure, receptor binding, and antigenicity of influenza virus hemagglutinins from the 1957 H2N2 pandemic.

ABSTRACT: The hemagglutinin (HA) envelope protein of influenza viruses mediates essential viral functions, including receptor binding and membrane fusion, and is the major viral antigen for antibody neutralization. The 1957 H2N2 subtype (Asian flu) was one of the three great influenza pandemics of the last century and caused 1 million deaths globally from 1957 to 1968. Three crystal structures of 1957 H2 HAs have been determined at 1.60 to 1.75 A resolutions to investigate the structural basis for their antigenicity and evolution from avian to human binding specificity that contributed to its introduction into the human population. These structures, which represent the highest resolutions yet recorded for a complete ectodomain of a glycosylated viral surface antigen, along with the results of glycan

SUBMITTER: Xu R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2812380 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature