Human influenza virus recognition of sialyloligosaccharides

Abstract

Sialic acids are essential components of cell-surface receptors utilized by influenza viruses. To evaluate the recognition of asialic sugar parts of the receptor, three representative strains of human influenza A and B viruses were tested for their binding of a panel of sialyloligosaccharides. The highest affinity binding carbohydrate determinants recognized by the viruses in a context of different core structures were Neu5Acα2-3Gal for the type B virus, Neu5Acα2-6Gal for the H3 subtype virus, and Neu5Acα2-6Ga/β1-4GlcNAc for the H1 subtype virus. Penultimate to these determinants parts of sialyloligosaccharides studied either contributed less significantly to the binding affinity, or interfered with the binding