Open AccessA Polymorphism in the Hemagglutinin of the Human Isolate of a Highly Pathogenic H5N1 Influenza Virus Determines Organ Tropism in Mice
Author(s) -
Benjamin Mänz,
Mikhail Matrosovich,
Nicolai V. Bovin,
Martin Schwemmle
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.617
H-Index - 292
eISSN - 1070-6321
pISSN - 0022-538X
DOI - 10.1128/jvi.00850-10
Subject(s) - biology , virology , tropism , hemagglutinin (influenza) , influenza a virus subtype h5n1 , highly pathogenic , tissue tropism , virus , influenza a virus , h5n1 genetic structure , microbiology and biotechnology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , covid-19 , medicine , disease , pathology
We characterized a human H5N1 virus isolate (KAN-1) encoding a hemagglutinin (HA) with a K-to-E substitution at amino acid position 222 that was previously described to be selected in the lung of the infected patient. In mice, the growth of the HA222E -encoding virus was mainly confined to the lung, but reversion to 222K allowed virus to spread to the brain. The HA222E variant showed an overall reduced binding affinity compared to that of HA222K for synthetic Neu5Ac2-3Gal-terminated receptor analogues, except for one analogue [Neu5Acα2-3Galβ1-4(Fucα1-3)(6-HSO3 )GlcNAcβ, Su-SLex ]. Our results suggest that human-derived mutations in HA of H5N1 viruses can affect viral replication efficiency and organ tropism.