H5N1 Hybrid Viruses Bearing 2009/H1N1 Virus Genes Transmit in Guinea Pigs by Respiratory Droplet

• DOI: 10.1126/science.1229455
• Publication Date: 2013-05-03T07:50:54Z
• Authors: Ying Zhang; Qianyi Zhang; Huihui Kong; Yongping Jiang; Yuwei Gao; Guohua Deng; Jianzhong Shi; Guobin Tian; Liling Liu; Jinxiong Liu; Yuntao Guan; Zhigao Bu; Hualan Chen
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Genes, Viral; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype; Guinea Pigs; Molecular Sequence Data; Ferrets; Brain; Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus; Receptors, Cell Surface; Cell Line; 3. Good health; Mice; 03 medical and health sciences; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype; Orthomyxoviridae Infections; Influenza, Human; Mutation; Animals; Humans; Receptors, Virus; Amino Acid Sequence; Reassortant Viruses

Influencing Influenza

Currently, there is anxiety that the avian H5N1 influenza virus will reassort with the highly transmissible and epidemic H1N1 subtype to trigger a virulent human pandemic.

Y. Zhang et al.

(p. 1459 , published online 2 May) used reverse genetics to make all possible reassortants between a virulent bird H5N1 with genes from a human pandemic H1N1. Virulence was tested in mice and transmissibility was tested between guinea pigs, which have both avian- and human-like airway influenza virus receptors. To assess what is happening to the receptor-ligand interactions as a result of these mutations,

W. Zhang et al.

(p. 1463 , published online 2 May) probed the structure of both wild-type and mutant hemagglutinin of H5 in complex with analogs of the avian and human receptor types. Certain mutations in the receptor-binding site changed binding affinity.