Hemagglutinin Receptor Specificity and Structural Analyses of Respiratory Droplet-Transmissible H5N1 Viruses.
de Vries, R.P., Zhu, X., McBride, R., Rigter, A., Hanson, A., Zhong, G., Hatta, M., Xu, R., Yu, W., Kawaoka, Y., de Haan, C.A., Wilson, I.A., Paulson, J.C.(2014) J Virol 88: 768-773
- PubMed: 24173215 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.02690-13
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
4N5Y, 4N5Z - PubMed Abstract: 
Two ferret-adapted H5N1 viruses capable of respiratory droplet transmission have been reported with mutations in the hemagglutinin receptor-binding site and stalk domains. Glycan microarray analysis reveals that both viruses exhibit a strong shift toward binding to "human-type" α2-6 sialosides but with notable differences in fine specificity. Crystal structure analysis further shows that the stalk mutation causes no obvious perturbation of the receptor-binding pocket, consistent with its impact on hemagglutinin stability without affecting receptor specificity.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Departments of Cell and Molecular Biology and Chemical Physiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA.