Influenza Virus Research Paper
Type A Influenza Virus Essay
Influenza: a virus that replicates, mutates, spreads among species, and the cause of the recent H1N1 scare is definitely an apparent danger to humans today.
Type A influenza is an RNA virus that ‘reproduces’ through replication. The virus particles are surrounded by hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) – both are structural glycoproteins attached to the virus’s outside lipid bi-layer. HA serves its function in helping the virus to bind to the sialic acid receptors located on the human cell. Then, through endocytosis, the virus enters the cell and makes its way to the host cell’s nucleus. Through transcription, the virus then creates copies of mRNA (messenger RNA) and uses them to translate new viral proteins (replication) – essentially creating new virus particles. These particles then attempt to escape the cell but HA again binds to the sialic acid receptors – preventing this. The glycoprotein NA then plays …show more content…
This is possible is through the modification of the virus’s HA and NA exterior glycoproteins. The virus then avoids detection because the antibodies released will be ineffective in binding to the new antigenic sites on the modified HA and NA proteins – ultimately the host doesn’t recognize the modified virus. The virus achieves such mutations due to the lack of enzymes that correct errors made on the viral genome during replication. The errors are therefore uncorrected, hence the virus mutates rapidly. This process is known as antigenic drift. But, the virus is more feared for its significant mutation due to the process of antigenic shift. In this process, the antigenic sites (HA and NA) mutate more rapidly and can even be completely replaced with new variations of the glycoproteins. The human body then cannot identify the virus, and so the new strain created can become lethal, and especially dangerous if
Influenza: a virus that replicates, mutates, spreads among species, and the cause of the recent H1N1 scare is definitely an apparent danger to humans today.
Type A influenza is an RNA virus that ‘reproduces’ through replication. The virus particles are surrounded by hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) – both are structural glycoproteins attached to the virus’s outside lipid bi-layer. HA serves its function in helping the virus to bind to the sialic acid receptors located on the human cell. Then, through endocytosis, the virus enters the cell and makes its way to the host cell’s nucleus. Through transcription, the virus then creates copies of mRNA (messenger RNA) and uses them to translate new viral proteins (replication) – essentially creating new virus particles. These particles then attempt to escape the cell but HA again binds to the sialic acid receptors – preventing this. The glycoprotein NA then plays …show more content…
This is possible is through the modification of the virus’s HA and NA exterior glycoproteins. The virus then avoids detection because the antibodies released will be ineffective in binding to the new antigenic sites on the modified HA and NA proteins – ultimately the host doesn’t recognize the modified virus. The virus achieves such mutations due to the lack of enzymes that correct errors made on the viral genome during replication. The errors are therefore uncorrected, hence the virus mutates rapidly. This process is known as antigenic drift. But, the virus is more feared for its significant mutation due to the process of antigenic shift. In this process, the antigenic sites (HA and NA) mutate more rapidly and can even be completely replaced with new variations of the glycoproteins. The human body then cannot identify the virus, and so the new strain created can become lethal, and especially dangerous if