Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
2010
Faculty Mentor
Bart Tarbet
Exhibition Venue
Utah State University Student Showcase; Research on Capitol Hill (Utah)
Abstract
Influenza viruses are classified based on their surface glycoproteins: hemagglutinin and neuraminidase. Hemagglutinin (HA) is responsible for binding to the host cell, while neuraminidase (NA) facilitates escape of newly formed virus particles. These studies determined the NA activity of three subtypes of influenza A virus that differ in their ability to cause disease in mice: influenza A/NWS/33 (H1N1), influenza A/Victoria/3/75 (H3N2), and influenza A/Duck/MN/1525/81 (H5N1). Chemiluminescent quantitation of NA activity in equal amounts of each virus was determined in three replicate experiments. Results indicate that N1 virus subtypes have higher NA activity than do N2 subtypes. In addition, the NA activity of each virus was tested in the presence of the NA inhibitor oseltamivir. Effective antiviral concentrations of oseltamivir for each virus were EC50 = 0.51, 0.19, and 0.70 nM for NWS, Victoria, and Duck viruses, respectively. These results do not support the hypothesis that NA activity alone determines the ability of the virus to cause disease. However, these data do suggest a correlation between NA activity and virus resistance to oseltamivir.
Recommended Citation
Brown, Benjamin Hanks and Tarbet, Bart, "Neuraminidase Activity of Influenza Virus Strains that Differ in the Ability to Cause Disease" (2010). Browse All Undergraduate research. Paper 10.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/undergrad_research/10