AZD1222-induced neutralising antibody activity against SARS-CoV-2 Delta VOC.
Lancet (London, England) 398:10296 (2021) 207-209
Structure of a H3N2 influenza virus nucleoprotein
Acta Crystallographica Section F: Structural Biology Communications International Union of Crystallography 77:7 (2021) 208-214
Abstract:
Influenza A viruses of the H1N1 and H3N2 subtypes are responsible for seasonal epidemic events. The influenza nucleoprotein (NP) binds to the viral genomic RNA and is essential for its replication. Efforts are under way to produce therapeutics and vaccines targeting the NP. Despite this, no structure of an NP from an H3N2 virus has previously been determined. Here, the structure of the A/Northern Territory/60/1968 (H3N2) influenza virus NP is presented at 2.2 Å resolution. The structure is highly similar to those of the A/WSN/1933 (H1N1) and A/Hong Kong/483/97 (H5N1) NPs. Nonconserved amino acids are widely dispersed both at the sequence and structural levels. A movement of the 73–90 RNA-binding loop is observed to be the key difference between the structure determined here and previous structures. The data presented here increase the understanding of structural conservation amongst influenza NPs and may aid in the design of universal interventions against influenza.Neutralising antibody activity against SARS-CoV-2 VOCs B.1.617.2 and B.1.351 by BNT162b2 vaccination.
Lancet (London, England) 397:10292 (2021) 2331-2333
The structure of the influenza A virus genome
Nature Microbiology Springer Nature 4:2019 (2019) 1781-1789
Abstract:
Influenza A viruses (IAVs) constitute a major threat to human health. The IAV genome consists of eight single-stranded viral RNA segments contained in separate viral ribonucleoprotein (vRNP) complexes that are packaged together into a single virus particle. The structure of viral RNA is believed to play a role in assembling the different vRNPs into budding virions1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and in directing reassortment between IAVs9. Reassortment between established human IAVs and IAVs harboured in the animal reservoir can lead to the emergence of pandemic influenza strains to which there is little pre-existing immunity in the human population10,11. While previous studies have revealed the overall organization of the proteins within vRNPs, characterization of viral RNA structure using conventional structural methods is hampered by limited resolution and an inability to resolve dynamic components12,13. Here, we employ multiple high-throughput sequencing approaches to generate a global high-resolution structure of the IAV genome. We show that different IAV genome segments acquire distinct RNA conformations and form both intra- and intersegment RNA interactions inside influenza virions. We use our detailed map of IAV genome structure to provide direct evidence for how intersegment RNA interactions drive vRNP cosegregation during reassortment between different IAV strains. The work presented here is a roadmap both for the development of improved vaccine strains and for the creation of a framework to ‘risk assess’ reassortment potential to better predict the emergence of new pandemic influenza strains.Mini viral RNAs act as innate immune agonists during influenza virus infection
Nature Microbiology Nature Publishing Group 3 (2018) 1234-1242