Designs on a Better Flu Vaccine

摘要

News about development of effective influenza vaccines always grabs the headlines due to the sheer number of patients potentially impacted by the disease. Recently, scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) discovered that antiflu antibodies inhibit two different viral proteins, not just the intended target.Hemagglutinin and neuraminidase are proteins present on the surface of the influenza virus. The former mediates virion attachment and fusion with host cell membranes, while the latter releases budding progeny virions from the cell surface that remain attached via hemagglutinin binding.