• FluTrackers.com Inc. does not provide medical advice. Information on this web site is collected from various internet resources, and the FluTrackers board of directors makes no warranty to the safety, efficacy, correctness or completeness of the information posted on this site by any author or poster. The information collated here is for instructional and/or discussion purposes only and is NOT intended to diagnose or treat any disease, illness, or other medical condition. Every individual reader or poster should seek advice from their personal physician/healthcare practitioner before considering or using any interventions that are discussed on this website. By continuing to access this website you agree to consult your personal physican before using any interventions posted on this website, and you agree to hold harmless FluTrackers.com Inc., the board of directors, the members, and all authors and posters for any effects from use of any medication, supplement, vitamin or other substance, device, intervention, etc. mentioned in posts on this website, or other internet venues referenced in posts on this website.
  • We are not asking for any donations. Do not donate to any entity who says they are raising funds for us.

J Virol. A single amino acid substitution in a polymerase protein of an H5N1 influenza virus is associated with systemic infection and impaired T cell

Giuseppe

Emeritus
J Virol. 2009 Aug 19. [Epub ahead of print]

A single amino acid substitution in a polymerase protein of an H5N1 influenza virus is associated with systemic infection and impaired T cell activation in mice.

Fornek JL, Gillim-Ross L, Santos C, Carter V, Ward JM, Cheng LI, Proll S, Katze MG, Subbarao K. - Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Box 358070, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, NIAID, NIH, Bldg 33, Room 3E13C_1, 33 North Dr., MSC 3203, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; Comparative Medicine Branch, NIAID, NIH, Rockville, MD 20852, USA.

Transmission of H5N1 influenza viruses from birds to humans poses a significant public health threat. A substitution of glutamic acid for lysine at position 627 of the PB2 protein of H5N1 viruses has been identified as a virulence determinant. We utilized the BALB/c mouse model of H5N1 infection to examine how this substitution affects virus-host interactions and leads to systemic infection. Mice infected with H5N1 viruses containing lysine at amino acid (aa) 627 in the PB2 protein exhibited increased severity of lesions in the lung parenchyma and the spleen, increased apoptosis in the lungs, and a decrease in oxygen saturation. Gene expression profiling revealed that T cell receptor activation was impaired at 2 days post-infection (dpi) in the lungs of mice infected with these viruses. The inflammatory response was highly activated in the lungs of mice infected with these viruses and was sustained at 4 dpi. In the spleen, immune-related processes including NK cell cytotoxicity and antigen presentation were highly activated by 2 dpi. These differences are not solely attributable to differences in viral replication in the lungs, but also to an inefficient immune response early in infection. The timing and magnitude of the immune response to highly pathogenic influenza viruses is critical in determining the outcome of infection. Disruption of these factors by a single aa substitution in a polymerase protein of an influenza virus is associated with severe disease and correlates with the spread of the virus to extrapulmonary sites.

PMID: 19692471 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

-
------
 
Back
Top Bottom