1ru7
1934 Human H1 Hemagglutinin
OverviewOverview
The 1918 influenza pandemic resulted in about 20 million deaths. This enormous impact, coupled with renewed interest in emerging infections, makes characterization of the virus involved a priority. Receptor binding, the initial event in virus infection, is a major determinant of virus transmissibility that, for influenza viruses, is mediated by the hemagglutinin (HA) membrane glycoprotein. We have determined the crystal structures of the HA from the 1918 virus and two closely related HAs in complex with receptor analogs. They explain how the 1918 HA, while retaining receptor binding site amino acids characteristic of an avian precursor HA, is able to bind human receptors and how, as a consequence, the virus was able to spread in the human population.
About this StructureAbout this Structure
1RU7 is a Protein complex structure of sequences from Influenza a virus. Full crystallographic information is available from OCA.
ReferenceReference
The structure and receptor binding properties of the 1918 influenza hemagglutinin., Gamblin SJ, Haire LF, Russell RJ, Stevens DJ, Xiao B, Ha Y, Vasisht N, Steinhauer DA, Daniels RS, Elliot A, Wiley DC, Skehel JJ, Science. 2004 Mar 19;303(5665):1838-42. Epub 2004 Feb 5. PMID:14764886 Page seeded by OCA on Sat May 3 07:54:53 2008