Changes in the Length of the Neuraminidase Stalk Region Impact H7N9 Virulence in Mice

Abstract
The neuraminidase stalk of the newly emerged H7N9 influenza virus possesses a 5-amino-acid deletion. This study focuses on characterizing the biological functions of H7N9 with varied neuraminidase stalk lengths. Results indicate that the 5-amino-acid deletion had no impact on virus infectivity or replication in vitro or in vivo compared to that of a virus with a full-length stalk, but enhanced virulence in mice was observed for H7N9 encoding a 19- to 20-amino-acid deletion, suggesting that N9 stalk length impacts virulence in mammals, as N1 stalk length does.
Funding Information
  • China Ministry of Science and Technology Project 973 (2011CB504703)
  • Tianjin Research Program of the Application Foundation and Advanced Technology (14JCYBJC24400)
  • Influenza Virus Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KJZD-EW-L09)
  • Open Research Fund Program of the CAS Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety (2015SPCAS001)
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (81330082 31101835 81322063)

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