Deep mutational scanning of hemagglutinin helps predict evolutionary fates of human H3N2 influenza variants.

ABSTRACT: Human influenza virus rapidly accumulates mutations in its major surface protein hemagglutinin (HA). The evolutionary success of influenza virus lineages depends on how these mutations affect HA's functionality and antigenicity. Here we experimentally measure the effects on viral growth in cell culture of all single amino acid mutations to the HA from a recent human H3N2 influenza virus strain. We show that mutations that are measured to be more favorable for viral growth are enriched in evolutionarily successful H3N2 viral lineages relative to mutations that are measured to be less favorable for viral growth. Therefore, despite the well-known caveats about cell-culture measurements of viral fitness, such measurements can still be informative for understanding evolution in nature. We also

SUBMITTER: Lee JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6126756 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature