Amino acid substitutions in antigenic region B of hemagglutinin play a critical role in the antigenic drift of subclade 2.3.4.4 highly pathogenic H5NX influenza viruses

2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 263-275
Author(s):  
Juan Li ◽  
Min Gu ◽  
Kaituo Liu ◽  
Ruyi Gao ◽  
Wenqiang Sun ◽  
...  
2019 ◽  
Vol 93 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Linster ◽  
E. J. A. Schrauwen ◽  
S. van der Vliet ◽  
D. F. Burke ◽  
P. Lexmond ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTInfluenza A/H2N2 viruses caused a pandemic in 1957 and continued to circulate in humans until 1968. The antigenic evolution of A/H2N2 viruses over time and the amino acid substitutions responsible for this antigenic evolution are not known. Here, the antigenic diversity of a representative set of human A/H2N2 viruses isolated between 1957 and 1968 was characterized. The antigenic change of influenza A/H2N2 viruses during the 12 years that this virus circulated was modest. Two amino acid substitutions, T128D and N139K, located in the head domain of the H2 hemagglutinin (HA) molecule, were identified as important determinants of antigenic change during A/H2N2 virus evolution. The rate of A/H2N2 virus antigenic evolution during the 12-year period after introduction in humans was half that of A/H3N2 viruses, despite similar rates of genetic change.IMPORTANCEWhile influenza A viruses of subtype H2N2 were at the origin of the Asian influenza pandemic, little is known about the antigenic changes that occurred during the twelve years of circulation in humans, the role of preexisting immunity, and the evolutionary rates of the virus. In this study, the antigenic map derived from hemagglutination inhibition (HI) titers of cell-cultured virus isolates and ferret postinfection sera displayed a directional evolution of viruses away from earlier isolates. Furthermore, individual mutations in close proximity to the receptor-binding site of the HA molecule determined the antigenic reactivity, confirming that individual amino acid substitutions in A/H2N2 viruses can confer major antigenic changes. This study adds to our understanding of virus evolution with respect to antigenic variability, rates of virus evolution, and potential escape mutants of A/H2N2.


2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (17) ◽  
pp. 11412-11421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chang-Won Lee ◽  
David E. Swayne ◽  
Jose A. Linares ◽  
Dennis A. Senne ◽  
David L. Suarez

ABSTRACT In early 2004, an H5N2 avian influenza virus (AIV) that met the molecular criteria for classification as a highly pathogenic AIV was isolated from chickens in the state of Texas in the United States. However, clinical manifestations in the affected flock were consistent with avian influenza caused by a low-pathogenicity AIV and the representative virus (A/chicken/Texas/298313/04 [TX/04]) was not virulent for experimentally inoculated chickens. The hemagglutinin (HA) gene of the TX/04 isolate was similar in sequence to A/chicken/Texas/167280-4/02 (TX/02), a low-pathogenicity AIV isolate recovered from chickens in Texas in 2002. However, the TX/04 isolate had one additional basic amino acid at the HA cleavage site, which could be attributed to a single point mutation. The TX/04 isolate was similar in sequence to TX/02 isolate in several internal genes (NP, M, and NS), but some genes (PA, PB1, and PB2) had sequence of a clearly different origin. The TX/04 isolate also had a stalk deletion in the NA gene, characteristic of a chicken-adapted AIV. By analyzing viruses constructed by in vitro mutagenesis followed by reverse genetics, we found that the pathogenicity of the TX/04 virus could be increased in vitro and in vivo by the insertion of an additional basic amino acid at the HA cleavage site and not by the loss of a glycosylation site near the cleavage site. Our study provides the genetic and biologic characteristics of the TX/04 isolate, which highlight the complexity of the polygenic nature of the virulence of influenza viruses.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 977
Author(s):  
Kobporn Boonnak ◽  
Chayasin Mansanguan ◽  
Dennis Schuerch ◽  
Usa Boonyuen ◽  
Hatairat Lerdsamran ◽  
...  

Influenza viruses continue to be a major public health threat due to the possible emergence of more virulent influenza virus strains resulting from dynamic changes in virus adaptability, consequent of functional mutations and antigenic drift in surface proteins, especially hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). In this study, we describe the genetic and evolutionary characteristics of H1N1, H3N2, and influenza B strains detected in severe cases of seasonal influenza in Thailand from 2018 to 2019. We genetically characterized seven A/H1N1 isolates, seven A/H3N2 isolates, and six influenza B isolates. Five of the seven A/H1N1 viruses were found to belong to clade 6B.1 and were antigenically similar to A/Switzerland/3330/2017 (H1N1), whereas two isolates belonged to clade 6B.1A1 and clustered with A/Brisbane/02/2018 (H1N1). Interestingly, we observed additional mutations at antigenic sites (S91R, S181T, T202I) as well as a unique mutation at a receptor binding site (S200P). Three-dimensional (3D) protein structure analysis of hemagglutinin protein reveals that this unique mutation may lead to the altered binding of the HA protein to a sialic acid receptor. A/H3N2 isolates were found to belong to clade 3C.2a2 and 3C.2a1b, clustering with A/Switzerland/8060/2017 (H3N2) and A/South Australia/34/2019 (H3N2), respectively. Amino acid sequence analysis revealed 10 mutations at antigenic sites including T144A/I, T151K, Q213R, S214P, T176K, D69N, Q277R, N137K, N187K, and E78K/G. All influenza B isolates in this study belong to the Victoria lineage. Five out of six isolates belong to clade 1A3-DEL, which relate closely to B/Washington/02/2009, with one isolate lacking the three amino acid deletion on the HA segment at position K162, N163, and D164. In comparison to the B/Colorado/06/2017, which is the representative of influenza B Victoria lineage vaccine strain, these substitutions include G129D, G133R, K136E, and V180R for HA protein. Importantly, the susceptibility to oseltamivir of influenza B isolates, but not A/H1N1 and A/H3N2 isolates, were reduced as assessed by the phenotypic assay. This study demonstrates the importance of monitoring genetic variation in influenza viruses regarding how acquired mutations could be associated with an improved adaptability for efficient transmission.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 778
Author(s):  
Andrew T. Bisset ◽  
Gerard F. Hoyne

Influenza viruses arise from animal reservoirs, and have the potential to cause pandemics. In 2013, low pathogenic novel avian influenza A(H7N9) viruses emerged in China, resulting from the reassortment of avian-origin viruses. Following evolutionary changes, highly pathogenic strains of avian influenza A(H7N9) viruses emerged in late 2016. Changes in pathogenicity and virulence of H7N9 viruses have been linked to potential mutations in the viral glycoproteins hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA), as well as the viral polymerase basic protein 2 (PB2). Recognizing that effective viral transmission of the influenza A virus (IAV) between humans requires efficient attachment to the upper respiratory tract and replication through the viral polymerase complex, experimental evidence demonstrates the potential H7N9 has for increased binding affinity and replication, following specific amino acid substitutions in HA and PB2. Additionally, the deletion of extended amino acid sequences in the NA stalk length was shown to produce a significant increase in pathogenicity in mice. Research shows that significant changes in transmissibility, pathogenicity and virulence are possible after one or a few amino acid substitutions. This review aims to summarise key findings from that research. To date, all strains of H7N9 viruses remain restricted to avian reservoirs, with no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission, although mutations in specific viral proteins reveal the efficacy with which these viruses could evolve into a highly virulent and infectious, human-to-human transmitted virus.


2017 ◽  
pp. JVI.01557-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gongxun Zhong ◽  
Mai Quynh Le ◽  
Tiago J.S. Lopes ◽  
Peter Halfmann ◽  
Masato Hatta ◽  
...  

To study the influenza viral determinants of pathogenicity, we characterized two highly pathogenic avian H5N1 influenza viruses isolated in Vietnam in 2012 (A/duck/Vietnam/QT1480/2012; QT1480) and 2013 (A/duck/Vietnam/QT1728/2013; QT1728) and found that the activity of their polymerase complexes differed significantly, even though both viruses were highly pathogenic in mice. Further studies revealed that the PA-S343A/E347D mutations reduced viral polymerase activity and mouse virulence when tested in the genetic background of QT1728 virus. In contrast, the PA-343S/347E mutations increased the polymerase activity of QT1480 and the virulence of a low pathogenic H5N1 influenza virus. The PA-343S residue (which alone increased viral polymerase activity and mouse virulence significantly relative to viral replication complexes encoding PA-343A) is frequently found in H5N1 influenza viruses of several subclades; infection with a virus possessing this amino acid may pose an increased risk to humans.IMPORTANCEH5N1 influenza viruses cause severe infections in humans with a case fatality rate that exceeds 50%. The factors that determine the high virulence of these viruses in humans are not fully understood. Here, we identified two amino acid changes in the viral polymerase PA protein that affect the activity of the viral polymerase complex and virulence in mice. Infection with viruses possessing these amino acid changes may pose an increased risk to humans.


mBio ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Huihui Kong ◽  
David F. Burke ◽  
Tiago Jose da Silva Lopes ◽  
Kosuke Takada ◽  
Masaki Imai ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Since the emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses of the H5 subtype, the major viral antigen, hemagglutinin (HA), has undergone constant evolution, resulting in numerous genetic and antigenic (sub)clades. To explore the consequences of amino acid changes at sites that may affect the antigenicity of H5 viruses, we simultaneously mutated 17 amino acid positions of an H5 HA by using a synthetic gene library that, theoretically, encodes all combinations of the 20 amino acids at the 17 positions. All 251 mutant viruses sequenced possessed ≥13 amino acid substitutions in HA, demonstrating that the targeted sites can accommodate a substantial number of mutations. Selection with ferret sera raised against H5 viruses of different clades resulted in the isolation of 39 genotypes. Further analysis of seven variants demonstrated that they were antigenically different from the parental virus and replicated efficiently in mammalian cells. Our data demonstrate the substantial plasticity of the influenza virus H5 HA protein, which may lead to novel antigenic variants. IMPORTANCE The HA protein of influenza A viruses is the major viral antigen. In this study, we simultaneously introduced mutations at 17 amino acid positions of an H5 HA expected to affect antigenicity. Viruses with ≥13 amino acid changes in HA were viable, and some had altered antigenic properties. H5 HA can therefore accommodate many mutations in regions that affect antigenicity. The substantial plasticity of H5 HA may facilitate the emergence of novel antigenic variants.


Author(s):  
O. Smutko ◽  
L. Radchenko ◽  
A. Mironenko

The aim of the present study was identifying of molecular and genetic changes in hemaglutinin (HA), neuraminidase (NA) and non-structure protein (NS1) genes of pandemic influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 strains, that circulated in Ukraine during 2015-2016 epidemic season. Samples (nasopharyngeal swabs from patients) were analyzed using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR). Phylogenetic trees were constructed using MEGA 7 software. 3D structures were constructed in Chimera 1.11.2rc software. Viruses were collected in 2015-2016 season fell into genetic group 6B and in two emerging subgroups, 6B.1 and 6B.2 by gene of HA and NA. Subgroups 6B.1 and 6B.2 are defined by the following amino acid substitutions. In the NS1 protein were identified new amino acid substitutions D2E, N48S, and E125D in 2015-2016 epidemic season. Specific changes were observed in HA protein antigenic sites, but viruses saved similarity to vaccine strain. NS1 protein acquired substitution associated with increased virulence of the influenza virus.


mBio ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manabu Aoki ◽  
Debananda Das ◽  
Hironori Hayashi ◽  
Hiromi Aoki-Ogata ◽  
Yuki Takamatsu ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTDarunavir (DRV) has bimodal activity against HIV-1 protease, enzymatic inhibition and protease dimerization inhibition, and has an extremely high genetic barrier against development of drug resistance. We previously generated a highly DRV-resistant HIV-1 variant (HIVDRVRP51). We also reported that four amino acid substitutions (V32I, L33F, I54M, and I84V) identified in the protease of HIVDRVRP51are largely responsible for its high-level resistance to DRV. Here, we attempted to elucidate the role of each of the four amino acid substitutions in the development of DRV resistance. We found that V32I is a key substitution, which rarely occurs, but once it occurs, it predisposes HIV-1 to develop high-level DRV resistance. When two infectious recombinant HIV-1 clones carrying I54M and I84V (rHIVI54Mand rHIVI84V, respectively) were selected in the presence of DRV, V32I emerged, and the virus rapidly developed high-level DRV resistance. rHIVV32Ialso developed high-level DRV resistance. However, wild-type HIVNL4-3(rHIVWT) failed to acquire V32I and did not develop DRV resistance. Compared to rHIVWT, rHIVV32Iwas highly susceptible to DRV and had significantly reduced fitness, explaining why V32I did not emerge upon selection of rHIVWTwith DRV. When the only substitution is at residue 32, structural analysis revealed much stronger van der Waals interactions between DRV and I-32 than between DRV and V-32. These results suggest that V32I is a critical amino acid substitution in multiple pathways toward HIV-1’s DRV resistance development and elucidate, at least in part, a mechanism of DRV’s high genetic barrier to development of drug resistance. The results also show that attention should be paid to the initiation or continuation of DRV-containing regimens in people with HIV-1 containing the V32I substitution.IMPORTANCEDarunavir (DRV) is the only protease inhibitor (PI) recommended as a first-line therapeutic and represents the most widely used PI for treating HIV-1-infected individuals. DRV possesses a high genetic barrier to development of HIV-1’s drug resistance. However, the mechanism(s) of the DRV’s high genetic barrier remains unclear. Here, we show that the preexistence of certain single amino acid substitutions such as V32I, I54M, A71V, and I84V in HIV-1 protease facilitates the development of high-level DRV resistance. Interestingly, allin vitro-selected highly DRV-resistant HIV-1 variants acquired V32I but never emerged in wild-type HIV (HIVWT), and V32I itself rendered HIV-1 more sensitive to DRV and reduced viral fitness compared to HIVWT, strongly suggesting that the emergence of V32I plays a critical role in the development of HIV-1’s resistance to DRV. Our results would be of benefit in the treatment of HIV-1-infected patients receiving DRV-containing regimens.


1996 ◽  
Vol 117 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. O. Adeyefa ◽  
M. L. James ◽  
J. W. McCauley

SummaryA detailed analysis of equine (H3N8) influenza viruses isolated in Nigeria during early 1991 has been undertaken. Antigenic analysis and the complete nucleotide sequence of the HA gene of three Nigerian equine influenza viruses A/eq/Ibadan/4/91, A/eq/Ibadan/6/91 and A/eq/Ibadan/9/91 are presented and limited sequence analysis of each of the genes encoding the internal polypeptides of the virus has been carried out. These results establish that, despite the geographical location from which these viruses were isolated, two were similar to the viruses which were concurrently causing disease in Europe in 1989 and 1991 and were related to viruses that have been predominating in horses since 1985. The third was more closely related to viruses isolated from 1991 onward in Europe but also in other parts of the globe. A comparison of the nucleotide sequence of two of the viruses isolated in Nigeria (A/eq/Ibadan/4/91 and A/eq/Ibadan/6/91) with a European strain (A/eq/Suffolk/89) showed limited variation in the haemagglutinin gene which caused amino acid substitutions in one of the antigenic sites: this mutation resulted in the potential production of a new glycosylation site in antigenic site A. The other Nigerian virus (A/eq/Ibadan/9/91) showed only a single one amino acid change from another European strain (A/eq/Arundel/12369/91). The two distinct Nigerian viruses had several amino acid substitutions in the antigenic sites of the haemagglutinin glycoprotein.


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