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Complete picture of flu virus envelope revealed

Research

Researchers in the Biochemistry department have built a model of the intact influenza A virus outer envelope for the first time.

The work, co-ordinated by postdoctoral fellow Dr Tyler Reddy and with fellow researchers from the department, has appeared in Structure (1).

By bringing together structural information from a variety of experimental sources, the researchers have uniquely included detailed analysis of the viral lipid envelope in their studies. Their model reveals characteristics that may help scientists understand how the virus survives in the wild and find new ways to combat it.

Read more (Department of Biochemistry website)

Influenza A virion on a mammalian plasma membrane© Heidi Koldsø

Influenza A virion on a mammalian plasma membrane.
Image: Heidi Koldsø

  1. Nothing to Sneeze At: A Dynamic and Integrative Computational Model of an Influenza Virion. Reddy T, Shorthouse D, Parton DL, Jefferys E, Fowler PW, Chavent M, Baaden M and Sansom MSP. Structure (2015) http://www.cell.com/structure/abstract/S0969-2126(15)00032-5

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