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Researchers have provided new insight on how two proteins help influenza A virus particles fight their way to human cells.
The findings, published today in the open-access journal eLife, further explain how influenza A is able to penetrate defensive mucus barriers in the airways and cause infection. This could lead to new opportunities for therapeutic interventions that disrupt this activity.
Mucosal barriers are the body's first line of defense against influenza A infection, containing sialic acid decoys that bind the virus. To infect cells without getting stuck in the mucus, influenza A relies on a balance between two proteins on the surface of its viral particles: the receptor-binding protein hemagglutinin (HA) and the cleaving protein neuraminidase (NA). But until now, little was known about how these proteins are organised on the particles and how this may contribute to a virus' ability to penetrate host mucus.
The findings, published today in the open-access journal eLife, further explain how influenza A is able to penetrate defensive mucus barriers in the airways and cause infection. This could lead to new opportunities for therapeutic interventions that disrupt this activity.
Mucosal barriers are the body's first line of defense against influenza A infection, containing sialic acid decoys that bind the virus. To infect cells without getting stuck in the mucus, influenza A relies on a balance between two proteins on the surface of its viral particles: the receptor-binding protein hemagglutinin (HA) and the cleaving protein neuraminidase (NA). But until now, little was known about how these proteins are organised on the particles and how this may contribute to a virus' ability to penetrate host mucus.
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