Researchers at the University of Notre Dame have discovered a way to make influenza visible to the naked eye, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. By engineering dye molecules to target ...
Biochemistry
May 5, 2017
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To infect its victims, influenza A heads for the lungs, where it latches onto sialic acid on the surface of cells. So researchers created the perfect decoy: A carefully constructed spherical nanoparticle coated in sialic ...
Bio & Medicine
Oct 25, 2016
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Every so often we hear about a new strain of influenza virus which has appeared and in some cases may sweep across the globe in a pandemic, much as the H1N1 virus did last year. What happens to the old seasonal viruses? In ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 14, 2011
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0
(PhysOrg.com) -- What happens if the next big influenza mutation proves resistant to the available anti-viral drugs? This question was presenting itself to scientists and health officials recently at the World Health Assembly ...
Biochemistry
Jul 6, 2009
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0
Neuraminidase enzymes are glycoside hydrolase enzymes (EC 3.2.1.18) that cleave the glycosidic linkages of neuraminic acids. Neuraminidase enzymes are a large family, found in a range of organisms. The most commonly known neuraminidase is the viral neuraminidase, a drug target for the prevention of the spread of influenza infection. The viral neuraminidases are frequently used as an antigenic determinants found on the surface of the Influenza virus. Some variants of the influenza neuraminidase confer more virulence to the virus than others. Other homologs are found in mammalian cells, which have a range of functions. At least four mammalian sialidase homologs have been described in the human genome (see NEU1, NEU2, NEU3, NEU4).
Neuraminidases, also called sialidases, catalyze the hydrolysis of terminal sialic acid residues from the newly formed virions and from the host cell receptors. Sialidase activities include assistance in the mobility of virus particles through the respiratory tract mucus and in the elution of virion progeny from the infected cell.
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