Huang QJ, Kim R, Song K, Grigorieff N, Munro JB, S. Virion-associated influenza hemagglutinin clusters upon sialic acid binding visualized by cryoelectron tomography. PNAS 2025 Apr 22;122(16):e2426427122
Influenza viruses are enveloped, negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses covered in a dense layer of glycoproteins. Hemagglutinin (HA) accounts for 80 to 90% of influenza glycoprotein and plays a role in host cell binding and membrane fusion. While previous studies have characterized structures of purified receptor-free and receptor-bound HA, the effect of receptor binding on HA organization and structure on virions remains unknown. Here, we used cryoelectron tomography to visualize influenza virions bound to a sialic acid receptor mimic. Overall, receptor binding did not result in significant changes in viral morphology; however, we observed rearrangements of HA trimer organization and orientation. Compared to the even interglycoprotein spacing of unliganded HA trimers, receptor binding promotes HA trimer clustering and the formation of a triplet of trimers. Subtomogram averaging and refinement yielded 8 to 10 ? reconstructions that allowed us to visualize specific contacts between HAs from neighboring trimers and identify molecular features that mediate clustering. Taken together, we present structural evidence that receptor binding triggers clustering of HA trimers, revealing an additional layer of HA dynamics and plasticity.
See Also:
Latest articles in those days:
- High-throughput pseudovirus neutralisation maps the antigenic landscape of influenza A/H1N1 viruses 10 hours ago
- Timely vaccine strain selection and genomic surveillance improve evolutionary forecast accuracy of seasonal influenza A/H3N2 10 hours ago
- Evaluation of a Novel Data Source for National Influenza Surveillance: Influenza Hospitalization Data in the National Healthcare Safety Network, United States, September 2021-April 2024 10 hours ago
- Scenarios for pre-pandemic zoonotic influenza preparedness and response 10 hours ago
- Stability of Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus in Milk from Infected Cows and Virus-Spiked Milk 1 days ago
[Go Top] [Close Window]


