Abstract
Influenza A virus is a pathogen of global medical importance causing significant health and socio-economic costs every year. Influenza virus is an unusual pathogen in that it is pleomorphic, capable of forming virions ranging in shape from spherical to filamentous. Despite decades of research on the influenza virus, much remains unknown about the formation of filamentous influenza viruses and their role in the viral replication cycle. Here, we discuss what is known about influenza virus assembly and budding, focusing on the viral and host factors that are involved in the determination of viral morphology. Whilst the biological function of the filamentous morphology remains unknown, recent results suggest a role in facilitating viral spread in vivo. We discuss these results and speculate on the consequences of viral morphology during influenza virus infection of the human respiratory tract.
Highlights
Between 1918 and 1920, an estimated 50–100 million people died from the first recorded pandemic of a viral infection commonly known as the flu [1]
In support of this hypothesis, it has been observed that mutation of the M2 protein can dramatically affect viral morphology, with mutations in the c-terminal amphipathic helix converting a filamentous virus into a spherical one [47], whereas truncation of the c-terminus at residue 70 enables filament formation from an otherwise spherical virus [48]
We have explored recent findings in how Influenza A virus (IAV) is assembled and budded and how some of these mechanisms, especially from a cellular aspect, may influence the budding of filamentous IAV
Summary
Between 1918 and 1920, an estimated 50–100 million people died from the first recorded pandemic of a viral infection commonly known as the flu [1]. This outbreak, nowadays known as the Spanish flu, was caused by the Influenza A virus (IAV). Recent strains emerging from the wild bird population include the high pathogenicity avian influenza virus strains H5N1 and H7N9, currently circulating in Eastern Asia where they have up to a 60 % case-fatality rate in humans, though do not yet spread efficiently from person to person [10]
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