Influenza virus articles within Nature

Featured

  • Article |

    A newly developed RIPK3 inhibitor blocks necroptosis of lung cells, reduces lung inflammation and prevents mortality in a mouse model of influenza A virus infection.

    • Avishekh Gautam
    • , David F. Boyd
    •  & Siddharth Balachandran

  • Article |

    Recent resurgences of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5 viruses have different origins and virus ecologies as their epicentres shift and viruses evolve, with changes indicating increased adaptation among domestic birds.

    • Ruopeng Xie
    • , Kimberly M. Edwards
    •  & Vijaykrishna Dhanasekaran

  • Article |

    Structural and biochemical studies of influenza virus RNA polymerase in complex with host acidic nuclear phosphoprotein 32 (ANP32) show how ANP32-mediated polymerase dimerization enables the replication of influenza viral RNA in a host-dependent manner.

    • Loïc Carrique
    • , Haitian Fan
    •  & Jonathan M. Grimes

  • Letter |

    The crystal structure of bat influenza A polymerase bound to a serine-5 phosphorylated peptide mimic from the C-terminal domain of cellular RNA polymerase II shows how the two polymerases are directly coupled and suggests that the interaction site could be targeted for antiviral drug development.

    • Maria Lukarska
    • , Guillaume Fournier
    •  & Stephen Cusack

  • Letter |

    The host protein ANP32A is shown here to be a species barrier to the function of avian influenza virus polymerase in mammalian cells; the mutation E627K in viral protein PB2, which allows mammalian ANP32 family proteins to support the avian virus polymerase, is known to be associated with increased virulence of avian viruses in mammals.

    • Jason S. Long
    • , Efstathios S. Giotis
    •  & Wendy S. Barclay

  • Letter |

    The X-ray crystal structure of influenza C virus polymerase, captured in a closed, pre-activation confirmation, is solved at 3.9 Å resolution; comparison with previous RNA-bound structures reveals large conformational changes associated with RNA binding and activation, and illustrates the notable flexibility of the influenza virus RNA polymerase.

    • Narin Hengrung
    • , Kamel El Omari
    •  & Ervin Fodor

  • Letter |

    Efficient airborne transmission of influenza viruses between humans is associated with use of α2,6-linked sialic acids, not α2,3-linked sialic acids; however, using a loss-of-function approach in which a 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus was engineered to bind α2,3 sialic acids, this study shows in ferrets that the soft palate is an important site for the switch of receptor usage to take place, and reveals that this tissue rapidly selects for transmissible influenza virus with human receptor preference.

    • Seema S. Lakdawala
    • , Akila Jayaraman
    •  & Kanta Subbarao

  • Letter |

    The analysis of more than 9,000 haemagglutinin sequences of human seasonal influenza viruses over a 12-year time period shows that the global circulation patterns of A/H1N1 and B viruses are different from those of the well characterised A/H3N2 viruses; in particular the A/H1N1 and B viruses are shown to persist locally across several seasons and do not display the same degree of global movement as the H3N2 viruses.

    • Trevor Bedford
    • , Steven Riley
    •  & Colin A. Russell

  • Article |

    Atomic resolution crystal structures of influenza A and B polymerases are presented; comparison of these structures provides mechanistic insight into influenza polymerase functions, explaining the processes of cap-snatching and cap-dependent priming, which are unique to segmented negative-strand RNA viruses.

    • Stefan Reich
    • , Delphine Guilligay
    •  & Stephen Cusack

  • Article |

    The crystal structure of the bat-specific influenza A polymerase in complex with the viral RNA promoter is presented, revealing how binding of the 5′ end of the viral RNA is required to activate or enhance the polymerase allosterically.

    • Alexander Pflug
    • , Delphine Guilligay
    •  & Stephen Cusack

  • Letter |

    A local molecular clock approach shows that most genetic diversity in avian influenza virus (AIV) arose in a recent global sweep and that avian strains are the sister group to equine H7N7; most of the 1918 pandemic virus’s genes originated from the resulting western hemispheric AIV lineage.

    • Michael Worobey
    • , Guan-Zhu Han
    •  & Andrew Rambaut

  • Letter |

    Evolutionary analyses show that H7 influenza viruses probably transferred from ducks to chickens in China on at least two independent occasions, and that reassortment with H9N2 viruses generated the H7N9 outbreak lineage that recently emerged in humans in China, and a related previously unrecognized H7N7 lineage; these H7N7 viruses are shown to have the ability to infect ferrets, and the current pandemic threat could extend beyond H7N9 viruses.

    • Tommy Tsan-Yuk Lam
    • , Jia Wang
    •  & Yi Guan

  • Letter |

    An investigation into the transmissibility of the H7N9 influenza A virus in ferrets finds that although the virus has some determinants associated with human adaptation and transmissibility between mammals, the airborne transmission between ferrets is limited.

    • Mathilde Richard
    • , Eefje J. A. Schrauwen
    •  & Ron A. M. Fouchier

  • Letter |

    Here, biological attributes of two early human isolates of the newly emerged H7N9 influenza viruses are characterized: the potential of these viruses to infect and/or transmit within various animal models is discussed, as is their relative sensitivity to neuraminidase inhibitors and experimental polymerase inhibitors compared to an H1N1 pandemic strain.

    • Tokiko Watanabe
    • , Maki Kiso
    •  & Yoshihiro Kawaoka

  • Letter |

    An initial characterization of the receptor-binding properties of the novel avian influenza A (H7N9) shows that the virus has acquired the ability to bind human receptors while retaining the ability to bind avian receptors; the virus infects epithelial cells in the human lower respiratory tract and type II pneumocytes in the alveoli, and hypercytokinaemia was seen in infected patients.

    • Jianfang Zhou
    • , Dayan Wang
    •  & Yuelong Shu

  • Comment |

    The debate over publishing potentially dangerous research on flu viruses would benefit from a closer look at history, argue David Kaiser and Jonathan D. Moreno.

    • David Kaiser
    •  & Jonathan Moreno

  • Article |

    The crystal structure of an influenza antibody that recognizes a small, conserved site in the variable receptor-binding domain of HA is described; this antibody shows broad neutralization across multiple subtypes of influenza A virus through an antibody–antigen interaction dominated by a single heavy-chain complementarity-determining region 3 loop.

    • Damian C. Ekiert
    • , Arun K. Kashyap
    •  & Ian A. Wilson

  • News Feature |

    Scientists now know that the deadly bird flu virus is capable of causing a human pandemic. That makes tackling the remaining unknowns all the more urgent.

    • Ed Yong

  • Perspective |

    Engineering influenza viruses to study human adaptation is a controversial area of research, with opinions diverging over the wisdom of publishing the full results of such studies.

    • David M. Morens
    • , Kanta Subbarao
    •  & Jeffery K. Taubenberger

  • News Feature |

    The fight over mutant flu has thrown the spotlight on a little-known government body that oversees dual-use research. Some are asking if it was up to the task.

    • Brendan Maher

  • News & Views |

    An engineered influenza virus based on a haemagglutinin protein from H5N1 avian influenza, with just four mutations, can be transmitted between ferrets, emphasizing the potential for a human pandemic to emerge from birds. See Letter p.420

    • Hui-Ling Yen
    •  & Joseph Sriyal Malik Peiris

  • News |

    Controversial study shows how dangerous forms of avian influenza could evolve in the wild.

    • Ed Yong

  • News |

    Virus papers get green light but controversy highlights lack of global rules on biosafety.

    • Declan Butler

  • Editorial |

    Global systems for monitoring threats from flu need a radical overhaul.

  • Comment |

    Four experts pinpoint ways to improve monitoring of H5N1 avian influenza in the field.

  • News |

    Nature analysis highlights need for international strategy to watch for pandemic threats.

    • Declan Butler

  • Letter |

    Interferon-inducible transmembrane (IFITM) protein 3 is shown to be an innate defence mechanism against viral infection in vivo; furthermore, a subset of the patients hospitalized during the H1N1 2009 pandemic carried a variant form of the IFITM3 gene.

    • Aaron R. Everitt
    • , Simon Clare
    •  & Paul Kellam

  • News & Views |

    Epigenetics is a hot new research field, but it seems that the influenza virus already has it figured out. By mimicking epigenetic regulation in human cells, one flu strain suppresses the expression of antiviral genes. See Article p.428

    • Alexei L. Krasnoselsky
    •  & Michael G. Katze

  • Article |

    The H3N2 influenza virus immunomodulatory protein NS1 carries a sequence that mimics the histone H3 tail; this sequence interferes with the host antiviral response via binding to the cellular regulator of RNA elongation, hPAF1C.

    • Ivan Marazzi
    • , Jessica S. Y. Ho
    •  & Alexander Tarakhovsky

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