Is avian influenza A (H7N9) virus staggering its way to humans?
Human infections by a new avian influenza A (H7N9) virus have been reported. As of April 23, 2013, there were 108 confirmed cases including 22 deaths in China. Methods: Influenza protein sequences were downloaded from the Influenza Virus Resource and GISAID EpiFlu databases. Pairwise nucleotide iden...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2013-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of the Formosan Medical Association |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929664613001654 |
| _version_ | 1811259663386148864 |
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| author | Guang-Wu Chen Michael M.C. Lai Suh-Chin Wu Shih-Cheng Chang Li-Min Huang Shin-Ru Shih |
| author_facet | Guang-Wu Chen Michael M.C. Lai Suh-Chin Wu Shih-Cheng Chang Li-Min Huang Shin-Ru Shih |
| author_sort | Guang-Wu Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Human infections by a new avian influenza A (H7N9) virus have been reported. As of April 23, 2013, there were 108 confirmed cases including 22 deaths in China.
Methods: Influenza protein sequences were downloaded from the Influenza Virus Resource and GISAID EpiFlu databases. Pairwise nucleotide identities were computed for assessing the evolutionary distance of H7N9 to other known avian and human viruses, and multiple sequence alignments with their position-specific entropy values were used in discussing how mutations on species-associated signature positions were introduced in the new H7N9 which may steer its way to human infection.
Results: This report analyzed the genomic characteristics of this new H7N9 virus. Nucleotide sequence analysis clearly reveals its origin from avian viruses. In this article, we particularly focus on its internal genes that are found to derive from H9N2—another subtype of avian influenza A virus which has been circulating in birds for years. Amino acid sequences at species-specific genomic positions were examined. Although the new virus contains mostly avian-like residues at these signature positions, it does contain several human-like signatures. For instance, at the position 627 of PB2, the new virus has human-characteristic K instead of avian-characteristic E; in addition, PB2-627K, PA-100A, PA-356R, and PA-409N are also human-like signatures in the new H7N9 virus.
Conclusion: The new H7N9 is an avian influenza A virus; however, it does harbor several human virus-like signatures, which raises great concern that it may have a higher probability to cross species barriers and infect humans. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T18:34:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-82fe334b769044048b8632b66d8d7e60 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0929-6646 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T18:34:54Z |
| publishDate | 2013-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of the Formosan Medical Association |
| spelling | doaj.art-82fe334b769044048b8632b66d8d7e602022-12-22T03:20:58ZengElsevierJournal of the Formosan Medical Association0929-66462013-06-01112631231810.1016/j.jfma.2013.04.015Is avian influenza A (H7N9) virus staggering its way to humans?Guang-Wu Chen0Michael M.C. Lai1Suh-Chin Wu2Shih-Cheng Chang3Li-Min Huang4Shin-Ru Shih5Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, College of Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, TaiwanChina Medical University Hospital, Taichung, TaiwanInstitute of Biotechnology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, TaiwanResearch Center for Emerging Viral Infections, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, TaiwanDepartment of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, TaiwanResearch Center for Emerging Viral Infections, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, TaiwanHuman infections by a new avian influenza A (H7N9) virus have been reported. As of April 23, 2013, there were 108 confirmed cases including 22 deaths in China. Methods: Influenza protein sequences were downloaded from the Influenza Virus Resource and GISAID EpiFlu databases. Pairwise nucleotide identities were computed for assessing the evolutionary distance of H7N9 to other known avian and human viruses, and multiple sequence alignments with their position-specific entropy values were used in discussing how mutations on species-associated signature positions were introduced in the new H7N9 which may steer its way to human infection. Results: This report analyzed the genomic characteristics of this new H7N9 virus. Nucleotide sequence analysis clearly reveals its origin from avian viruses. In this article, we particularly focus on its internal genes that are found to derive from H9N2—another subtype of avian influenza A virus which has been circulating in birds for years. Amino acid sequences at species-specific genomic positions were examined. Although the new virus contains mostly avian-like residues at these signature positions, it does contain several human-like signatures. For instance, at the position 627 of PB2, the new virus has human-characteristic K instead of avian-characteristic E; in addition, PB2-627K, PA-100A, PA-356R, and PA-409N are also human-like signatures in the new H7N9 virus. Conclusion: The new H7N9 is an avian influenza A virus; however, it does harbor several human virus-like signatures, which raises great concern that it may have a higher probability to cross species barriers and infect humans.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929664613001654avian influenzaH7N9PB2-E627Kspecies-specific signatures |
| spellingShingle | Guang-Wu Chen Michael M.C. Lai Suh-Chin Wu Shih-Cheng Chang Li-Min Huang Shin-Ru Shih Is avian influenza A (H7N9) virus staggering its way to humans? Journal of the Formosan Medical Association avian influenza H7N9 PB2-E627K species-specific signatures |
| title | Is avian influenza A (H7N9) virus staggering its way to humans? |
| title_full | Is avian influenza A (H7N9) virus staggering its way to humans? |
| title_fullStr | Is avian influenza A (H7N9) virus staggering its way to humans? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is avian influenza A (H7N9) virus staggering its way to humans? |
| title_short | Is avian influenza A (H7N9) virus staggering its way to humans? |
| title_sort | is avian influenza a h7n9 virus staggering its way to humans |
| topic | avian influenza H7N9 PB2-E627K species-specific signatures |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929664613001654 |
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