Modulation of the pH Stability of Influenza Virus Hemagglutinin: A Host Cell Adaptation Strategy.

ABSTRACT: Proteins undergo dynamic structural changes to function within the range of physical and chemical conditions of their microenvironments. Changes in these environments affect their activity unless the respective mutations preserve their proper function. Here, we examine the influenza A virus spike protein hemagglutinin (HA), which undergoes a dynamic conformational change that is essential to the viral life cycle and is dependent on endosomal pH. Since the cells of different potential hosts exhibit different levels of pH, the virus can only cross species barriers if HA undergoes mutations that still permit the structural change to occur. This key event occurs after influenza A enters the host cell via the endocytic route, during its intracellular transport inside endosomes. The acidic pH in

SUBMITTER: Di Lella S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4906160 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature