Comments on: Assembly of influenza virus

By: me

me — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:30:00 +0000

Ammonia? So thats why those McDonalds burgers were able to kill the viral infections I got from vaccinations!

By: Ottar Stensvold

Ottar Stensvold — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 16:51:00 +0000

It is known that ammonia (NH3) can inactivate single-stranded RNA viruses, but the mechanism is not unraveled. I suggest ammonia can twist the RNPs shown down to the right in the picture.

Ottar Stensvold

By: Raphael

Raphael — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 06:58:29 +0000

I´m wondering about the function of Neuraminidases, which is only described for the budding process. In the first step of an infectious cycle HA binds to the sialic acid cell receptor. The situation is the same as in the budding process…HA binds to sialic acid. My question is why NA does not cleave sialic acid in the initial step? Or on the other hand are some newly assembled virions again cooperated into the infected cell cause HA should be already active in the newly assembled virions?

By: Raphael

Raphael — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:58:29 +0000

By: caileyculbetson

caileyculbetson — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:07:25 +0000

Hey, I really need help with this project! I am 16 and single guys get at me!

By: Manish Rijal

Manish Rijal — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:41:03 +0000

the mode of action of tamiflu and relenza is clearly illustrated but it woild have been better if tha mode of action other two vaccine were given.similarly the assembly of virus is slightly unclear so please make it clear.

By: Influenza neuraminidase and H5N1 pathogenicity

Influenza neuraminidase and H5N1 pathogenicity — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:02:07 +0000

[...] (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). The NA, shown in yellow in the illustration, is an enzyme that removes sialic acids from the surface of the cell, so that newly formed virions can be released. The NA protein is [...]

By: Packaging of the segmented influenza RNA genome

Packaging of the segmented influenza RNA genome — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:02:33 +0000

[...] influenza virus assembly, viral RNAs and viral proteins – called a ribonucleoprotein complex or RNP - travels to the [...]

By: Isis

Isis — Sat, 23 May 2009 01:24:41 +0000

Very informative, interesting on how this virus works. Great article!

By: profvrr

profvrr — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:09:30 +0000

How the parts know where to go isn't fully understood. There are
clearly 'signals' on various components that allow them to interact
(protein-protein, or RNA-protein interactions). Proteins destined for
the plasma membrane have specific signals that sort them there. The
cytoplasm is a crowded place, so such signals are very important.
However, viruses often reprogram the cellular biosynthetic activities
so that mainly their proteins/nucleic acids are made. For example,
cell translation is often inhibited so that most of the new proteins
made are those of the virus.

As for NA removing sialic acid - this occurs when the newly
synthesized NA is inserted into the plasma membrane, just before viral
budding occurs. By the time the virion forms, the sialic acid has been
removed. When the virion attaches, it is rapidly taken into the cell
before the NA can work. In cells where the virus is not taken up -
such as red blood cells - the virus will attach, and in time, as the
NA removes the sialic acid, the virus falls off of the cells.

By: Mauricio Carrillo-Tripp

Mauricio Carrillo-Tripp — Wed, 20 May 2009 13:48:07 +0000

This is fascinating. How do all individual parts “know” when and where to go? How do they find their way in space and time to be at the right location at the precise time?
One way I can explain this is that they are everywhere all the time (well, most of the time). So this means there have to be lots and lots of copies of each individual component everywhere in the cell at a specific time. Is there a mechanism by which the virus “forces” the cell to make its parts instead of the cell's owns (or at least in greater quantities)?
My other question relates to the HA and NA proteins, both found in the virus membrane surface. So, HA binds to the sialic acid, while NA removes it from the cell surface. I'm confused about when the later happens. I'm not sure if it is true, but from the diagrams it appears that HA is 'longer' than NA. So when the virus first attach to the cell through the HA binding to the sialic acid, NA can't reach it, therefore the sialic acid stays. However, during the budding process, NA now is closer to the sialic acid than HA, and now that it's in reach, it can remove it.