Computer generated three dimensional model of the H5N1 avian influenza virus.
Computer generated three dimensional model of the H5N1 avian influenza virus. Influenzaviruses A, B and C are very similar in overall structure. The virus particle is 80–120 nanometres in diameter and usually roughly spherical, although filamentous forms can occur. The viral particles of all influenza viruses are similar in composition. These are made of a viral envelope containing two main types of glycoproteins, wrapped around a central core. The central core contains the viral RNA genome and other viral proteins that package and protect this RNA. RNA tends to be single stranded but in special cases it is double. Unusually for a virus, its genome is not a single piece of nucleic acid; instead, it contains seven or eight pieces of segmented negative-sense RNA, each piece of RNA containing either one or two genes. For example, the influenza A genome contains 11 genes on eight pieces of RNA, encoding for 11 proteins: hemagglutinin (HA), neuraminidase (NA), nucleoprotein (NP), M1, M2, NS1, NS2(NEP), PA, PB1, PB1-F2 and PB2. Hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) are the two large glycoproteins on the outside of the viral particles. HA is a lectin that mediates binding of the virus to target cells and entry of the viral genome into the target cell, while NA is involved in the release of progeny virus from infected cells, by cleaving sugars that bind the mature viral particles. Thus, these proteins are targets for antiviral drugs. Furthermore, they are antigens to which antibodies can be raised. Influenza A viruses are classified into subtypes based on antibody responses to HA and NA. These different types of HA and NA form the basis of the H and N distinctions in, for example, H5N1. There are 16 H and 9 N subtypes known, but only H 1, 2 and 3, and N 1 and 2 are commonly found in humans. As shown in this model, the virus surface is studded with hemagglutinin and neuraminidase glycoproteins
Size: 4224px × 4104px
Photo credit: © Scott Camazine / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: avian, bird, epidemic, h5n1, hemagglutinin, illness, illustration, influenza, model, neuraminidase, pandemic, pathogen, structure, viral, virus
