Could A Deletion in Neuraminidase Stalk Strengthen Human Tropism of the Novel Avian Influenza Virus H7N9 in China, 2013?

Liang Chen, Feng Zhu, Chenglong Xiong, Zhijie Zhang, Lufang Jiang, Yue Chen, Genming Zhao and Qingwu Jiang
Additional contact information
Liang Chen: Department of Sanitary Microbiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
Feng Zhu: Intensive Care Unit of Burn and Trauma Center, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
Chenglong Xiong: Department of Sanitary Microbiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
Zhijie Zhang: Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
Lufang Jiang: Department of Sanitary Microbiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
Yue Chen: Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8M5, Canada
Genming Zhao: Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
Qingwu Jiang: Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Objective. A novel avian influenza A virus (AIV) H7N9 subtype which emerged in China in 2013 caused worldwide concern. Deletion of amino-acids 69 to 73 in the neuraminidase stalk was its most notable characteristic. This study is aimed to discuss the tropism and virulence effects of this deletion. Methods : Neuraminidase gene sequences of N9 subtype were collected from NCBI and GISAID. MEGA6.0, Stata12.0, and UCSF Chimera were employed for sequence aligning, significance testing, and protein tertiary structure homology modeling. Results : A total of 736 sequences were obtained; there were 81 human isolates of the novel AIV H7N9, of which 79 had the deletion. Among all the 654 avian origin sequences, only 43 had the deletion ( p < 0.001). Tertiary structure displayed that the deletion obviously changed the spatial direction of neuraminidase. Conclusions : The deletion in neuraminidase stalk could have strengthened human tropism of the novel AIV H7N9, as well as its virulence.

Keywords: deletion; neuraminidase; H7N9; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/1/1020/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/1/1020/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:12:y:2015:i:1:p:1020-1028:d:44907

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().