
The advent of H7N9 in early 2013 is of concern for a number of reasons, including its capability to infect humans, the lack of clarity in the etiology of infection, and because the human population does not have pre-existing immunity to the H7 subtype. Earlier sequence analyses of H7N9 hemagglutinin (HA) point to amino acid changes that predicted human receptor binding and impinge on the antigenic characteristics of the HA. Here, we report that the H7N9 HA shows limited binding to human receptors; however, should a single amino acid mutation occur, this would result in structural changes within the receptor binding site that allow for extensive binding to human receptors present in the upper respiratory tract. Furthermore, a subset of the H7N9 HA sequences demarcating coevolving amino acids appears to be in the antigenic regions of H7, which, in turn, could impact effectiveness of the current WHO-recommended prepandemic H7 vaccines.
Models, Molecular, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all), Molecular Sequence Data, Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus, Host Specificity, Trachea, Influenza A virus, Influenza Vaccines, Polysaccharides, Influenza, Human, Mutation, Humans, Receptors, Virus, Amino Acid Sequence, Phylogeny
Models, Molecular, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all), Molecular Sequence Data, Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus, Host Specificity, Trachea, Influenza A virus, Influenza Vaccines, Polysaccharides, Influenza, Human, Mutation, Humans, Receptors, Virus, Amino Acid Sequence, Phylogeny
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 129 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Top 10% | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 1% |
