Influenza Virus Research

Influenza viruses belong to the family Orthomyxoviridae. The viral particles are about 80-120 nm in diameter and can be spherical or pleomorphic. They have a lipid membrane envelope that contains the two glycoproteins: hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). These two proteins determine the subtypes of Influenza A virus. There are 16 H subtypes and 9 N subtypes.

The surface glycoprotein hemagglutinin (HA) is the major surface antigen of influenza viruses, against which neutralizing antibodies are elicited during virus infection and vaccination. HA is synthesized as a single polypeptide that is subsequently cleaved into two polypeptides, HA1 and HA2. The HA1 polypeptide mutates more frequently than HA2 and plays a crucial role in natural selection.

The Influenza A viral genome consists of eight, single negative-strand RNAs that can range between 890 and 2340 nucleotides long. Each RNA segment encodes one to two proteins. Of the three types of influenza virus-A, B and C-the A and B types can cause flu epidemics.

Influenza Virus Research Products (recombinant proteins, antibodies, ORF cDNA clones, etc.) per Strain: