Emergence of truncated PB1-F2 protein of H3N2 influenza virus during its epidemic period in Jiangsu Province, China.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

PB1-F2 protein has been proven to increase the pathogenicity of influenza A virus (IAV) strains in primary infection and in secondary bacterial infection. It can also regulate the activity of viral polymerase. However, it was shown in another retrospective study that a portion of IAVs do not express full-length PB1-F2 protein during virus development; different kinds of stop codons cause exits in the open reading frames and form PB1-F2 gene products with the corresponding genotypes. Truncated PB1-F2 in human H3N2 IAVs has long been detected in North America but its evolution in China is still unclear.

METHODS:

Influenza-like illnesses (ILIs) from the whole of Jiangsu Province were collected and inspected to determine the type and subtype of the viruses. A portion of isolates collected in the epidemic period were selected as samples for later whole-genome sequencing, and the exact sequences were determined and analyzed.

RESULTS:

H3N2 influenza virus was one of the epidemical strains which had been prevalent during 2009-2010, in Jiangsu. Five H3N2 isolates with truncated PB1-F2 protein (25aa) were detected in influenza samples from Nanjing and Xuzhou, while seven similar H3N2 isolates were also reported in Niigata, Japan.

CONCLUSION:

This emergence indicates the possibility that there has been transmission of the H3N2 virus between the two countries.

• Authors: Pingmin Wei, Pengfei Luo, Wei Li, Hairong Zi, Xian Qi, Fei Deng, Yuanfang Qin, Bin Wu, Fenyang Tang
• Journal: Chinese medical journal (Chin Med J (Engl)) Vol. 127 Issue 8 Pg. 1487-92 ( 2014) ISSN: 2542-5641 [Electronic] China
• PMID: 24762594 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• PB1-F2 protein, Influenza A virus
• Viral Proteins

Topics

• China (epidemiology)
• Humans
• Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype (genetics, metabolism)
• Influenza, Human (virology)
• Viral Proteins (chemistry, genetics, metabolism)