

Sep 10, 2009
Unlike seasonal H1N1, pandemic H1N1 can attach to receptors in the lungs, according to the study.



Seasonal viruses attach to receptors found on cells in the nose, throat and upper airway, enabling them to infect a person's . Today's research, which was funded by the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, shows that pandemic H1N1 can also attach to a receptor found on cells deep inside the lungs, which can result in a more severe lung infection.

The pandemic influenza virus's ability to stick to the additional receptors may explain why the virus replicates and spreads between cells more quickly: if a can bind to more than one type of receptor, it can attach itself to a larger area of the respiratory tract, infecting more cells and causing a more serious infection.

Professor Ten Feizi, a corresponding author of today's paper from the Division of Medicine at Imperial College London, said: "Most people infected with swine-origin flu in the current pandemic have experienced relatively mild symptoms. However, some people have had more severe lung infections, which can be worse than those caused by . Our new research shows how the virus does this - by attaching to receptors mostly found on cells deep in the lungs. This is something seasonal flu cannot do."



The researchers compared the way seasonal and pandemic H1N1 flu viruses infect cells by identifying which receptors each virus binds to. To do this, the researchers used a glass surface with 86 different receptors attached to it, called a carbohydrate microarray. When viruses were added to the glass surface, they stuck to their specific receptors and the corresponding areas on the plate 'lit up'. This meant the researchers could see which receptors the different viruses attached to.


"Receptor binding determines how well a virus spreads between cells and causes an infection," said Professor Feizi. "Our new study adds to our understanding of how swine-origin influenza H1N1 is behaving in the current , and shows us changes we need to look out for."

More information: "Receptor-binding specificity of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 virus determined by carbohydrate microarray" Nature Biotechnology, 10 September 2009.

Source: Imperial College London (news : web)


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not rated yet Sep 10, 2009
So why are we trying to create H1N1 flu shots? Why aren't we just telling people to get pneumonia shots? Everything I have heard on the internet so far says this flu is still very mild. It is the pneumonia that people get after the flu that makes them sick and die. But I personally don't know anyone that has had H1N1...


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